Reading Twilight
by AntoniaRose
Summary: The Cullens receive four books entitled Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. Find out what happens when the Cullens get to know Bella's thoughts, and Renesmee finds out things her parents never told her. Set four years after Breaking Dawn.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys! I'm starting a new fanfic about the Cullens reading the Twilight Saga. I know loads of people write these kind of fanfics, but I'm doing this just for my own fun. If anyone is reading, I hope you enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga. _

Chapter One: Engaged

*Bella POV*

I walked in to find my whole family, discussing something with serious expressions on their faces. "What's wrong guys?" I asked as Alice looked up with a troubled expression. "This arrived today," she said as she handed four books to me. I looked at each of them. They were entitled _Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, _and _Breaking Dawn._

I turned over the back of the first book and read what was written there.

**About three things I was absolutely positive. **

**First, Edward was a vampire. **

**Second, there was a part of him-and I didn't know how dominant that part might be-that thirsted for my blood. **

**And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him. **

My mouth dropped open. "This is a book about me?" I asked nervously. Renesmee nodded. "Yes. There was a note which came from someone called Stephenie, which said that she knew our secret, but wouldn't tell anyone. Can we read it?" she asked, looking up at me eagerly.

Nessie now looked like a twelve year old girl, although her mind was far ahead of her physical appearance. Jake, who was sitting next to her, shrugged. "Yeah, it would be interesting. After all, this Stephenie person said that she wouldn't tell anyone anyway, right?"

The rest of the Cullen family looked pretty excited. "Little sister, if this book is going to be in your point of view, I'm definitely reading it!" Emmett exclaimed.

I sat down beside Edward. "I can finally get to know your thoughts!" Edward said, an expression of elation on his face as he looked at me. I laughed and nodded. "Alright, but I bet this is going to be embarrassing," I replied. "Loads of my thoughts were about you, Edward."

"I'll start reading," said Carlisle, who was sitting opposite us.

He took the book and opened it up.

**Preface**, he read.

**I'd never given much thought to how I would die — though I'd had reason enough in the last few months— but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this. I stared without breathing across the long room, into the dark eyes of the hunter, and he looked pleasantly back at me.**

"Who is that?" Ness asked, and I was wondering the same thing. "I think these books are from the time that I come to Forks," I guessed. "Read on, Carlisle. Let's see what happens."

**Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. **

"Of course you'd think that, Bella. How many times have you been willing to die for someone you love?" Jacob asked.

**Noble, even. That ought to count for something.**

**I knew that if I'd never gone to Forks-**

"I was correct, then," I said. "It is from the time I went to Forks."

**-I wouldn't be facing death now. But, terrified as I was, I couldn't bring myself to regret the decision. When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it's not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end.**

**The hunter smiled in a friendly way as he sauntered forward to kill me.**

"Well, that was intense," Emmett commented. "Let's continue."

**Chapter One, **Carlisle read. **First Sight. **

**My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down. It was seventy-five degrees in Phoenix, the sky a perfect, cloudless blue. I was wearing my favourite shirt — sleeveless, white eyelet lace; I was wearing it as a farewell gesture. My carry-on item was a parka.**

**In the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State, a small town named Forks exists under a near-constant cover of clouds. It rains on this inconsequential town more than any other place in the United States of America. **

"Which is why it's perfect for us," Alice put in.

**It was from this town and its gloomy, omnipresent shade that my mother escaped with me when I was only a few months old. It was in this town that I'd been compelled to spend a month every summer until I was fourteen. That was the year I finally put my foot down; these past three summers, my dad, Charlie, vacationed with me in California for two weeks instead.**

**It was to Forks that I now exiled myself— an action that I took with great horror. I detested Forks.**

"Why did you do it, then?" Renesmee asked. Edward and I still hadn't told her about our life before she came along, my life, specifically. I shook my head. "I think these books will explain it, honey."

**I loved Phoenix. I loved the sun and the blistering heat. I loved the vigorous, sprawling city.**

"A part of me still does," I smiled.

**"Bella," my mom said to me — the last of a thousand times — before I got on the plane. "You don't have to do this."**

**My mom looks like me, except with short hair and laugh lines. I felt a spasm of panic as I stared at her wide, childlike eyes. How could I leave my loving, erratic, hare-brained mother to fend for herself? Of course she had Phil now, so the bills would probably get paid, there would be food in the refrigerator, gas in her car, and someone to call when she got lost, but still…**

"I really want to meet her," Renesmee said sadly. My heart went out to my daughter. I vowed that someday I'd find a way for her to meet Renee.

**"I want to go," I lied. I'd always been a bad liar-**

"Bad?" everyone in the house scoffed.

**-but I'd been saying this lie so frequently lately that it sounded almost convincing now.**

"Yeah, right."

**"Tell Charlie I said hi."**

**"I will."**

**"I'll see you soon," she insisted. "You can come home whenever you want — I'll come right back as soon as you need me."**

**But I could see the sacrifice in her eyes behind the promise.**

**"Don't worry about me," I urged. "It'll be great. I love you, Mom." She hugged me tightly for a minute, and then I got on the plane, and she was gone.**

**It's a four-hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, another hour in a small plane up to Port Angeles, and then an hour drive back down to Forks.**

**Flying doesn't bother me; the hour in the car with Charlie, though, I**

**was a little worried about.**

**Charlie had really been fairly nice about the whole thing. He seemed genuinely pleased that I was coming to live with him for the first time with any degree of permanence. He'd already gotten me registered for high school and was going to help me get a car.**

**But it was sure to be awkward with Charlie. Neither of us was what anyone would call verbose, and I didn't know what there was to say regardless. I knew he was more than a little confused by my decision— like my mother before me, I hadn't made a secret of my distaste for Forks.**

"That was before you came along," I smiled at Edward.

**When I landed in Port Angeles, it was raining. I didn't see it as an omen — just unavoidable. I'd already said my goodbyes to the sun.**

**Charlie was waiting for me with the cruiser. This I was expecting, too. Charlie is Police Chief Swan to the good people of Forks. My primary motivation behind buying a car, despite the scarcity of my funds, was that I refused to be driven around town in a car with red and blue lights on top. Nothing slows down traffic like a cop.**

"I wouldn't talk Bella. Remember how slow _you _drove?" I punched Edward in the arm.

**Charlie gave me an awkward, one-armed hug when I stumbled my way off the plane.**

**"It's good to see you, Bells," he said, smiling as he automatically caught and steadied me. "You haven't changed much. How's Renée?"**

**"Mom's fine. It's good to see you, too, Dad." I wasn't allowed to call him Charlie to his face.**

**I had only a few bags. Most of my Arizona clothes were too permeable for Washington. My mom and I had pooled our resources to supplement my winter wardrobe, but it was still scanty. It all fit easily into the trunk of the cruiser.**

**"I found a good car for you, really cheap," he announced when we were strapped in.**

**"What kind of car?" I was suspicious of the way he said "good car for you" as opposed to just "good car."**

**"Well, it's a truck actually, a Chevy."**

"Which you refused to let us replace."

**"Where did you find it?"**

**"Do you remember Billy Black down at La Push?" La Push is the tiny Indian reservation on the coast.**

**"No."**

**"He used to go fishing with us during the summer," Charlie prompted.**

**That would explain why I didn't remember him. I do a good job of blocking painful, unnecessary things from my memory.**

Everyone laughed.

**"He's in a wheelchair now," Charlie continued when I didn't respond, "so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap." **

**"What year is it?" I could see from his change of expression that this was the question he was hoping I wouldn't ask.**

**"Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine — it's only a few years old, really."**

"Yeah right," Edward scoffed. "That thing was from the sixties."

**I hoped he didn't think so little of me as to believe I would give up that easily. "When did he buy it?"**

**"He bought it in 1984, I think."**

**"Did he buy it new?"**

**"Well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties — or late fifties at the earliest," he admitted sheepishly.**

"See, I told you."

**"Ch — Dad, I don't really know anything about cars. I wouldn't be able to fix it if anything went wrong, and I couldn't afford a mechanic…"**

"Hey, what about me?" Jake pouted. "I'm a great mechanic!" "I didn't know you back then, Jake. I met you just a couple of minutes after I reached, remember?" I explained to him.

**"Really, Bella, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore."**

**The thing, I thought to myself… it had possibilities — as a nickname, at the very least.**

"I really wish this attitude had lasted, darling. It would have made it much easier for us to get rid of the thing."

**"How cheap is cheap?" After all, that was the part I couldn't compromise on.**

**"Well, honey, I kind of already bought it for you. As a homecoming gift." Charlie peeked sideways at me with a hopeful expression.**

**Wow. Free.**

**"You didn't need to do that, Dad. I was going to buy myself a car."**

**"I don't mind. I want you to be happy here." He was looking ahead at the road when he said this. Charlie wasn't comfortable with expressing his emotions out loud. I inherited that from him. So I was looking straight ahead as I responded.**

**"That's really nice, Dad. Thanks. I really appreciate it." No need to add that my being happy in Forks is an impossibility. **

"Until Edward came."

**He didn't need to suffer along with me. And I never looked a free truck in the mouth —or engine.**

**"Well, now, you're welcome," he mumbled, embarrassed by my thanks.**

**We exchanged a few more comments on the weather, which was wet, and that was pretty much it for conversation. We stared out the windows in silence.**

**It was beautiful, of course; I couldn't deny that. Everything was green: the trees, their trunks covered with moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered with ferns. Even the air filtered down greenly through the leaves.**

**It was too green — an alien planet.**

"Oh, Bella…" Jasper chuckled.

**Eventually we made it to Charlie's. He still lived in the small, two-bedroom house that he'd bought with my mother in the early days of their marriage. Those were the only kind of days their marriage had —the early ones. **

"That's why you were so against marriage," Edward muttered, low enough that our daughter wouldn't hear.

**There, parked on the street in front of the house that never changed, was my new — well, new to me — truck. **

**It was a faded red colour, with big, rounded fenders and a bulbous cab. To my intense surprise, I loved it.**

"Urgh, I hated it," Edward groaned.

**I didn't know if it would run, but I could see myself in it. **

**Plus, it was one of those solid iron affairs that never gets damaged — the kind you see at the scene of an accident, paint unscratched, surrounded by the pieces of the foreign car it had destroyed. "Wow, Dad, I love it! Thanks!" Now my horrific day tomorrow would be just that much less dreadful.**

**I wouldn't be faced with the choice of either walking two miles in the rain to school or accepting a ride in the Chief's cruiser.**

**"I'm glad you like it," Charlie said gruffly, embarrassed again.**

**It took only one trip to get all my stuff upstairs. I got the west bedroom that faced out over the front yard.**

**The room was familiar; it had been belonged to me since I was born. The wooden floor, the light blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the yellowed lace curtains around the window — these were all a part of my childhood. **

**The only changes Charlie had ever made were switching the crib for a bed and adding a desk as I grew. The desk now held a second-hand computer, with the phone line for the modem stapled along the floor to the nearest phone jack. This was a stipulation from my mother, so that we could stay in touch easily. **

**The rocking chair from my baby days was still in the corner.**

**There was only one small bathroom at the top of the stairs, which I would have to share with Charlie. I was trying not to dwell too much on that fact.**

**One of the best things about Charlie is he doesn't hover. **

"He did plenty of that once I was around," Edward pointed out. "That was because it was the first time his daughter got a boyfriend! You have got to remember, I got into a lot of heartbreak and accidents when I was with you. He must have been worried that you were a bad influence on me," I replied.

**He left me alone to unpack and get settled, a feat that would have been altogether impossible for my mother. It was nice to be alone, not to have to smile and look pleased; a relief to stare dejectedly out the window at the sheeting rain and let just a few tears escape. I wasn't in the mood to go on a real crying jag. I would save that for bedtime, when I would have to think about the coming morning.**

"Oh, Bella darling, you hated it that much?" Esme asked, her heart going out to the poor girl. Bella looked down. "I did. And then when I met Edward, and we fell in love, things got much better. He made everything better for me. And you guys. And Jake, of course."

"Well thanks for mentioning me last, Bella," Jake grumbled, but I knew he was teasing.

**Forks High School had a frightening total of only three hundred and fifty-seven — now fifty-eight —students; there were more than seven hundred people in my junior class alone back home. All of the kids here had grown up together — their grandparents had been toddlers together.**

**I would be the new girl from the big city, a curiosity, a freak.**

"You could never be a freak, Bella," Edward said, clasping my hand in his. "Not to me. Not to anyone here."

"Yeah, Mom, we all love you," Renesmee put in.

**Maybe, if I looked like a girl from Phoenix should, I could work this to my advantage. But physically, I'd never fit in anywhere. **

"The only place I ever fit in was with you. That's part of the reason I wanted to be a vampire so badly. I was so happy when I was with you and your family."

**I should be tan, sporty, blond — a volleyball player, or a cheerleader, perhaps —all the things that go with living in the valley of the sun.**

**Instead, I was ivory-skinned, without even the excuse of blue eyes or red hair, despite the constant sunshine. I had always been slender, but soft somehow, obviously not an athlete; I didn't have the necessary hand-eye coordination to play sports without humiliating myself — and harming both myself and anyone else who stood too close.**

"Poor Mike," I said, wincing when I remembered how I had whacked him with a tennis racket when he had volunteered to play with me.

Edward let out a menacing growl.

"Oh give me a break, Edward. I was just mentioning the guy. It wasn't like I was going to marry him."

"I know. It's just an instinctive reaction whenever that-jerk-is mentioned. I couldn't stand him."

**When I finished putting my clothes in the old pine dresser, I took my bag of bathroom necessities and went to the communal bathroom to clean myself up after the day of travel. I looked at my face in the mirror as I brushed through my tangled, damp hair. Maybe it was the light, but already I looked sallower, unhealthy. My skin could be pretty — it was very clear, almost translucent-looking — but it all depended on colour. I had no colour here.**

"Yet you wanted to become a vampire?" Rosalie cocked an eyebrow. "That's because I knew I would be far more beautiful if I was a vampire. And I wanted to be with Edward, no matter what."

**Facing my pallid reflection in the mirror, I was forced to admit that I was lying to myself. It wasn't just physically that I'd never fit in. And if I couldn't find a niche in a school with three thousand people, what were my chances here?**

**I didn't relate well to people my age. **

"That's why you liked us, then," Alice laughed. "We're definitely not your age."

**Maybe the truth was that I didn't relate well to people, period. Even my mother, who I was closer to than anyone else on the planet, was never in harmony with me, never on exactly the same page. Sometimes I wondered if I was seeing the same things through my eyes that the rest of the world was seeing through theirs. Maybe there was a glitch in my brain.**

"That's exactly what you said when I told you I couldn't read your mind."

**But the cause didn't matter. All that mattered was the effect. And tomorrow would be just the beginning. **

**I didn't sleep well that night, even after I was done crying.**

Renesmee got up and gave me a hug before sitting down beside me.

**The constant whooshing of the rain and wind across the roof wouldn't fade into the background. I pulled the faded old quilt over my head, and later added the pillow, too. But I couldn't fall asleep until after midnight, when the rain finally settled into a quieter drizzle.**

**Thick fog was all I could see out my window in the morning, and I could feel the claustrophobia creeping up on me. You could never see the sky here; it was like a cage.**

**Breakfast with Charlie was a quiet event. He wished me good luck at school. I thanked him, knowing his hope was wasted. Good luck tended to avoid me.**

"Definitely. Your good luck is non-existent," Jake said. "No, it isn't," I said. "It gave me all of you. You guys are proof that good luck didn't give up on me."

**Charlie left first, off to the police station that was his wife and family. After he left, I sat at the old square oak table in one of the three un-matching chairs and examined his small kitchen, with its dark panelled walls, bright yellow cabinets, and white linoleum floor.**

**Nothing was changed. My mother had painted the cabinets eighteen years ago in an attempt to bring some sunshine into the house. Over the small fireplace in the adjoining handkerchief-sized family room was a row of pictures.**

**First a wedding picture of Charlie and my mom in Las Vegas, then one of the three of us in the hospital after I was born, taken by a helpful nurse, followed by the procession of my school pictures up to last year's. Those were embarrassing to look at — I would have to see what I could do to get Charlie to put them somewhere else, at least while I was living here.**

"Oh, I want to see!" Renesmee cried. I groaned. "Sorry, honey, I think I'd be too embarrassed to show them to you."

**It was impossible, being in this house, not to realize that Charlie had never gotten over my mom. It made me uncomfortable.**

"Renee never did either, you know," Edward told me quietly. "There is a part of both of them that will always love one another, even if they have Sue and Phil."

"Families are like that," I said, knowing first-hand how such love could exist. "Your heart can always expand to fit in more love."

**I didn't want to be too early to school, but I couldn't stay in the house anymore. I donned my jacket —which had the feel of a biohazard suit — and headed out into the rain.**

**It was just drizzling still, not enough to soak me through immediately as I reached for the house key that was always hidden under the eaves by the door, and locked up. The sloshing of my new waterproof boots was unnerving. I missed the normal crunch of gravel as I walked. **

**I couldn't pause and admire my truck again as I wanted; I was in a hurry to get out of the misty wet that swirled around my head and clung to my hair under my hood.**

**Inside the truck, it was nice and dry. Either Billy or Charlie had obviously cleaned it up, but the tan upholstered seats still smelled faintly of tobacco, gasoline, and peppermint. The engine started quickly, to my relief, but loudly, roaring to life and then idling at top volume.**

**Well, a truck this old was bound to have a flaw.**

"That truck was a flaw in itself!"

**The antique radio worked, a plus that I hadn't expected.**

**Finding the school wasn't difficult, though I'd never been there before. The school was, like most other things, just off the highway. It was not obvious that it was a school; only the sign, which declared it to be the Forks High School, made me stop. It looked like a collection of matching houses, built with maroon-coloured bricks.**

"That's what I thought when I saw it too!" Alice exclaimed.

**There were so many trees and shrubs I couldn't see its size at first. Where was the feel of the institution? I wondered nostalgically. Where were the chain-link fences, the metal detectors?**

**I parked in front of the first building, which had a small sign over the door reading front office. No one else was parked there, so I was sure it was off limits, but I decided I would get directions inside instead of circling around in the rain like an idiot. I stepped unwillingly out of the toasty truck cab and walked down a little stone path lined with dark hedges. I took a deep breath before opening the door.**

**Inside, it was brightly lit, and warmer than I'd hoped. The office was small; a little waiting area with padded folding chairs, orange-flecked commercial carpet, notices and awards cluttering the walls, a big clock ticking loudly. **

**Plants grew everywhere in large plastic pots, as if there wasn't enough greenery outside. The room was cut in half by a long counter, cluttered with wire baskets full of papers and brightly coloured flyers taped to its front. There were three desks behind the counter, one of which was manned by a large, red-haired woman wearing glasses. She was wearing a purple t-shirt, which immediately made me feel overdressed.**

**The red-haired woman looked up. "Can I help you?"**

**"I'm Isabella Swan," I informed her, and saw the immediate awareness light her eyes. I was expected, a topic of gossip no doubt. Daughter of the Chief's flighty ex-wife, come home at last.**

"Love, you have no idea. Everyone in school was just thinking about you. Especially the boys…" Edward gritted his teeth, and I kissed his cheek to reassure him.

"Well that's very rude," Renesmee frowned. "Shouldn't they respect you, Mom?" "Oh, honey, some people just like to gossip. You can't do anything about them."

Renesmee leaned into me as Carlisle continued reading.

**"Of course," she said. She dug through a precariously stacked pile of documents on her desk till she found the ones she was looking for. "I have your schedule right here, and a map of the school." She brought several sheets to the counter to show me. **

**She went through my classes for me, highlighting the best route to each on the map, and gave me a slip to have each teacher sign, which I was to bring back at the end of the day. She smiled at me and hoped, like Charlie, that I would like it here in Forks. I smiled back as convincingly as I could.**

**When I went back out to my truck, other students were starting to arrive. I drove around the school, following the line of traffic. I was glad to see that most of the cars were older like mine, nothing flashy. At home I'd lived in one of the few lower-income neighbourhoods that were included in the Paradise Valley District. It was a common thing to see a new Mercedes or Porsche in the student lot. **

**The nicest car here was a shiny Volvo, and it stood out. **

"My lovely Volvo…" Edward trailed off. He had lost a bet with Jasper which included his silver Volvo, and he had sulked around the house for days afterward.

Edward still couldn't get over it, although I had bought him a new Volvo for our anniversary.

**Still, I cut the engine as soon as I was in a spot, so that the thunderous volume wouldn't draw attention to me.**

"Fat chance of that, love. Everyone was planning to be your new best friend."

**I looked at the map in the truck, trying to memorize it now; hopefully I wouldn't have to walk around with it stuck in front of my nose all day. I stuffed everything in my bag, slung the strap over my shoulder, and sucked in a huge breath. I can do this, I lied to myself feebly. No one was going to bite me. **

**I finally exhaled and stepped out of the truck.**

**I kept my face pulled back into my hood as I walked to the sidewalk, crowded with teenagers. My plain black jacket didn't stand out, I noticed with relief.**

**Once I got around the cafeteria, building three was easy to spot. A large black "3" was painted on a white square on the east corner. I felt my breathing gradually creeping toward hyperventilation as I approached the door. I tried holding my breath as I followed two unisex raincoats through the door.**

**The classroom was small. The people in front of me stopped just inside the door to hang up their coats on a long row of hooks. I copied them. They were two girls, one a porcelain-coloured blonde, the other also pale, with light brown hair. At least my skin wouldn't be a standout here.**

**I took the slip up to the teacher, a tall, balding man whose desk had a nameplate identifying him as Mr. Mason. He gawked at me when he saw my name — not an encouraging response — and of course I flushed tomato red.**

"I still miss that," Edward sighed wistfully. "Your lovely blush, and the pink colour in your cheeks when I was with you. I'd give anything just to see that again."

**But at least he sent me to an empty desk at the back without introducing me to the class. **

**It was harder for my new classmates to stare at me in the back, but somehow, they managed. I kept my eyes down on the reading list the teacher had given me. It was fairly basic: Bronte, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Faulkner. I'd already read everything. **

"Of course you would, Bella. You were such a book buff," Jacob laughed.

**That was comforting… and boring. I wondered if my**

**mom would send me my folder of old essays, or if she would think that was cheating. I went through different arguments with her in my head while the teacher droned on.**

**When the bell rang, a nasal buzzing sound, a gangly boy with skin problems and hair black as an oil slick leaned across the aisle to talk to me. "You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?" He looked like the overly helpful, chess club type.**

**"Bella," I corrected. Everyone within a three-seat radius turned to look at me.**

**"Where's your next class?" he asked.**

**I had to check in my bag. "Um, Government, with Jefferson, in building six."**

**There was nowhere to look without meeting curious eyes.**

**"I'm headed toward building four, I could show you the way…" Definitely over-helpful. "I'm Eric," he added.**

**I smiled tentatively. "Thanks."**

**We got our jackets and headed out into the rain, which had picked up. I could have sworn several people behind us were walking close enough to eavesdrop. I hoped I wasn't getting paranoid.**

Emmett burst out laughing. "Oh, Bella, you'll be the death of me with your remarks."

If I could've blushed, I definitely would have.

**"So, this is a lot different than Phoenix, huh?" he asked.**

**"Very."**

**"It doesn't rain much there, does it?"**

**"Three or four times a year."**

**"Wow, what must that be like?" he wondered.**

**"Sunny," I told him.**

**"You don't look very tan."**

**"My mother is part albino."**

**He studied my face apprehensively, and I sighed. It looked like clouds and a sense of humour didn't mix.**

**A few months of this and I'd forget how to use sarcasm.**

"Oh, I'd say you scored an A in sarcasm," Edward said dryly, no doubt remembering the countless times I replied to him sarcastically.

**We walked back around the cafeteria, to the south buildings by the gym. Eric walked me right to the door, though it was clearly marked.**

**"Well, good luck," he said as I touched the handle. "Maybe we'll have some other classes together." He sounded hopeful.**

**I smiled at him vaguely and went inside.**

"Bella, you really shouldn't encourage them like that. If you were just curt and firm, Mike would've backed off long ago," Edward sighed again.

**The rest of the morning passed in about the same fashion. My Trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner, who I would have hated anyway just because of the subject he taught, was the only one who made me stand in front of the class and introduce myself. I stammered, blushed, and tripped over my own boots on the way to my seat.**

"Why were you so upset by that, Mom?" Nessie asked curiously. "I was one of those people who were very shy and didn't like to be noticed," I tried to explain to her. "I hated getting attention from anyone. I'd always prefer to stay silent and be a part of the crowd."

**After two classes, I started to recognize several of the faces in each class. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves and ask me questions about how I was liking Forks. I tried to be diplomatic, but mostly I just lied a lot. At least I never needed the map.**

**One girl sat next to me in both Trig and Spanish, and she walked with me to the cafeteria for lunch. She was tiny, several inches shorter than my five feet four inches, but her wildly curly dark hair made up a lotof the difference between our heights. I couldn't remember her name, so I smiled and nodded as she prattled about teachers and classes. I didn't try to keep up.**

**We sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends, who she introduced to me. I forgot all their names as soon as she spoke them. They seemed impressed by her bravery in speaking to me. The boy from English, Eric, waved at me from across the room.**

**It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that I first saw them.**

"Oh, crap," I groaned. If what was written in the book was anything like my thoughts when I had seen the Cullens for the first time, I was going to be the laughing stock of my family.

**They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room.**

**There were five of them. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. They weren't gawking at me, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. **

**But it was none of these things that caught, and held, my attention.**

**They didn't look anything alike. Of the three boys, one was big — muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dark, curly hair.**

"Why thank you, Bella," Emmett laughed. "That's a very flattering description."

**Another was taller, leaner, but still muscular, and honey blond.**

"That's me, isn't it?" Jasper smiled and I nodded. Edward leaned forward in anticipation, knowing he was next.

**The last was lanky, less bulky, with untidy, bronze-coloured hair. He was more boyish than the others-**

"My brothers get muscular, leaned and tall, and I get lanky, boyish and untidy?" Edward asked, pouting. "I'm hurt, Bella."

I was burying my face in my hands. This book was describing my thoughts exactly. "There's worse to come," I mumbled. "Worse for me, that is."

**-who looked like they could be in college, or even teachers here rather than students.**

**The girls were opposites. The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. Her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back. **

"Well, Bella, thank you for describing me in such a flattering manner," Rosalie laughed. "I should have been a fashion model, huh?" "Where's me, where's me!" Alice squealed in excitement.

**The short girl was pixie-like, thin in the extreme, with small features. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction.**

"Pixie-like?" Alice asked, disappointed. "Is that the best you could give, Bella?"

**And yet, they were all exactly alike. Every one of them was chalky pale, the palest of all the students living in this sunless town. Paler than me, the albino. They all had very dark eyes despite the range in hair tones. They also had dark shadows under those eyes — purplish, bruise-like shadows. **

**As if they were all suffering from a sleepless night, or almost done recovering from a broken nose. Though their noses, all their features, were straight, perfect, angular.**

**But all this is not why I couldn't look away.**

**I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. **

"And now, so are you," Alice smiled. "Devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful, in your words."

**They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as the face of an angel. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful —maybe the perfect blond girl, or the bronze-haired boy.**

"You're going to make us get big heads, Bella," Rosalie and Edward chorused in perfect harmony.

**They were all looking away — away from each other, away from the other students, away from anything in particular as far as I could tell. **

**As I watched, the small girl rose with her tray — unopened soda, unbitten apple — and walked away with a quick, graceful lope that belonged on a runway.**

"Finally, something about me!" Alice squealed in delight.

**I watched, amazed at her lithe dancer's step, till she dumped her tray and glided through the back door, faster than I would have thought possible. **

"Way to blow our cover, Alice," Emmett grumbled. "Bella can observe the tiniest things." "Well, how was I supposed to know she would see?" Alice defended herself. "I was getting bored of sitting there and doing nothing!"

**My eyes darted back to the others, who sat unchanging.**

**"Who are they?" I asked the girl from my Spanish class, whose name I'd forgotten.**

**As she looked up to see who I meant — though already knowing, probably, from my tone — suddenly he looked at her, the thinner one, the boyish one, the youngest, perhaps. **

"Wrong again, Bella," Edward laughed. "I was the second oldest, after Carlisle." "Yes, but you were the youngest when you were turned, so you looked like the young one."

**He looked at my neighbour for just a fraction of a second, and then his dark eyes flickered to mine.**

**He looked away quickly, more quickly than I could, though in a flush of embarrassment I dropped my eyes at once. **

"I remember being thankful that Jasper couldn't see that," Edward recalled.

**In that brief flash of a glance, his face held nothing of interest — it was as if she had called his name-**

"She had. She went through so many fantasies in her mind…it was excruciating, I swear. She just wouldn't shut up about me and her. I was wishing I could explain to her what would have happened if her mouth had been anywhere near my teeth," Edward groaned.

I growled-I couldn't help it, it was an instinctive reaction. Jake laughed. "It's nice to see Bella being jealous for once."

**and he'd looked up in involuntary response, already having decided not to answer.**

**My neighbour giggled in embarrassment, looking at the table like I did.**

**"That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The one who left was Alice Cullen; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife." She said this under her breath.**

**I glanced sideways at the beautiful boy, who was looking at his tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with long, pale fingers. His mouth was moving very quickly, his perfect lips barely opening. **

"Bella, you have no idea how beautiful _you _are. If there was a book we could read about my feelings for you, it would be filled with all these descriptions and more," Edward said quietly.

I slipped my hand into his, and squeezed his fingers gently, assuring him that I understood the depth of his love for me now.

**The other three still looked away, and yet I felt he was speaking quietly to them.**

**Strange, unpopular names, I thought. The kinds of names grandparents had.**

"We are definitely grandparents," Carlisle chuckled. "Great-great-great grandparents."

**But maybe that was in vogue here — small town names? I finally remembered that my neighbour was called Jessica, a perfectly common name. There were two girls named Jessica in my History class back home.**

**"They are… very nice-looking." I struggled with the conspicuous understatement.**

**"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. "They're all together though — Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they live together." **

**Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town, I thought critically. But, if I was being honest, I had to admit that even in Phoenix, it would cause gossip.**

"And would you be part of it, Bella?" Jake teased. I smiled sheepishly. "Most probably, yes." All the Cullens pretended to pout. "Oh don't get sour faces, I wouldn't have participated after the initial few days, anyway."

**"Which ones are the Cullens?" I asked. "They don't look related…"**

**"Oh, they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties. They're all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, twins — the blondes — and they're foster children."**

**"They look a little old for foster children."**

**"They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they've been with Mrs Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that."**

**"That's really kind of nice — for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they're so young and everything."**

"Well, now you know the truth, Bella, but thank you anyways," Esme smiled.

**"I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, and I got the impression that she didn't like the doctor and his wife for some reason. **

"She doesn't," Edward cut in. "She thinks it's unfair that we all look so beautiful, while she gets to be average. And she was also sore because I turned her down."

**With the glances she was throwing at their adopted children, I would presume the reason was jealousy.**

"Yes, it was."

**"I think that Mrs Cullen can't have any kids, though," she added, as if that lessened their kindness.**

I could feel the tension in the room as we all turned to see if Esme was alright, or if she had been upset by the thoughtless remark Jessica had made.

She was looking down, but she glanced up when she felt our eyes on her. I saw in her golden eyes the tears she would never be able to shed, and my heart went out to her.

Alice went over to Esme and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Please read, Carlisle," she said quietly and Carlisle turned his eyes back to the book.

**Throughout all this conversation, my eyes flickered again and again to the table where the strange family sat. They continued to look at the walls and not eat.**

**"Have they always lived in Forks?" I asked. Surely I would have noticed them on one of my summers here.**

"And I you, Bella," Edward said. "I wouldn't have let you leave without noticing you or talking to you at least once."

**"No," she said in a voice that implied it should be obvious, even to a new arrival like me. "They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska."**

**I felt a surge of pity, and relief. Pity because, as beautiful as they were, they were outsiders, clearly not accepted. Relief that I wasn't the only newcomer here, and certainly not the most interesting by any standard. **

**As I examined them, the youngest, one of the Cullens, looked up and met my gaze, this time with evident curiosity in his expression. As I looked swiftly away, it seemed to me that his glance held some kind of unmet expectation.**

"I couldn't read your mind," Edward groaned. "You have no idea how annoying it was. The first human I couldn't glean information from, whose mind wasn't open to me."

**"Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?" I asked. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye and he was still staring at me, but not gawking like the other students had today — he had a slightly frustrated expression.**

"And it has only gotten worse," Edward sighed. "Well, this is going to be a dream come true for you, Edward. You can know every single thought that passed through my brain." Edward brightened. "Yes, and I'm really looking forward to it."

**I looked down again.**

**"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him."**

"No one but you, Bella," Edward smiled. "No one but you."

**She sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes. I wondered when he'd turned her down.**

"Ages ago," Edward put in. "She was just like Mike-wouldn't give up no matter how many times I showed her I wasn't interested."

**I bit my lip to hide my smile. Then I glanced at him again. His face was turned away, but I thought his cheek appeared lifted, as if he were smiling, too.**

"I was, reading everything she was thinking at that moment. It was amusing, to say the least."

**After a few more minutes, the four of them left the table together. They all were noticeably graceful — even the big, brawny one.**

"I can't believe how Eddie boy gets all the flattering remarks and the most attention, and the rest of us are chopped liver," Emmett said, teasing me.

Edward rolled his eyes.

**It was unsettling to watch. The one named Edward didn't look at me again.**

"But my thoughts were only about you, Bella."

**I sat at the table with Jessica and her friends longer than I would have if I'd been sitting alone. I was anxious not to be late for class on my first day. **

**One of my new acquaintances, who considerately reminded me that her name was Angela, had Biology with me the next hour. We walked to class together in silence. She was shy, too.**

**When we entered the classroom, Angela went to sit at a black-topped lab table exactly like the ones I was used to. She already had a neighbour. In fact, all the tables were filled but one. **

**Next to the centre aisle, I recognized Edward Cullen by his unusual hair, sitting next to that single open seat.**

"My unusual hair?" my husband asked. "What is that supposed to mean, love?"

"Your hair was this shade of bronze…I'd never seen anything like it before."

I was praying that there wouldn't be anything else that embarrassed me in this book, although I knew that it was a long shot.

**As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get my slip signed, I was watching him surreptitiously. Just as I passed, he suddenly went rigid in his seat. **

"Oh that was a really bad time," Edward winced, remembering the pain, and I quickly asked Carlisle to read.

**He stared at me again, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on his face — it was hostile, furious. **

"Oh, Bella, I couldn't help it…" Edward trailed off, looking ashamed.

**I looked away quickly, shocked, going red again. I stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch myself on the edge of a table. The girl sitting there giggled.**

**I'd noticed that his eyes were black — coal black.**

"So observant…"

**Mr Banner signed my slip and handed me a book with no nonsense about introductions. I could tell we were going to get along. **

**Of course, he had no choice but to send me to the one open seat in the middle of the room. I kept my eyes down as I went to sit by him, bewildered by the antagonistic stare he'd given me.**

"It's okay, Edward," I tried to comfort him. "I know how excruciating it must have been for you." He didn't look up, his eyes cast down.

**I didn't look up as I set my book on the table and took my seat, but I saw his posture change from the corner of my eye. He was leaning away from me, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair and averting his face like he smelled something bad.**

"It was the opposite. You smelled so good…like all the wonderful things in the world combined into one." Edward was still sitting in a hunched position, refusing to meet my eyes.

Renesmee looked confused. "I don't understand, why were you treating Mom so badly Dad?"

"My blood smelled really sweet and appetising to him, honey," I explained to her. "He was trying to avoid me. It was a really tough struggle for him to not kill me. It was taking all his self-control."

**Inconspicuously, I sniffed my hair. It smelled like strawberries, the scent of my favourite shampoo. It seemed an innocent enough odour. I let my hair fall over my right shoulder, making a dark curtain between us, and tried to pay attention to the teacher.**

"It was not you, love. You did nothing wrong…it was my fault." I couldn't stand this anymore.

"EDWARD ANTHONY MASEN CULLEN, YOU LISTEN TO ME RIGHT NOW!" I yelled. Shocked, he looked up at me. "How was it your fault? You were trying to resist killing me, and you were doing your best to keep away from my scent! I didn't know you were a vampire, so my mind obviously jumped to the conclusion that you didn't like me, and I was upset!

If you hadn't resisted, I would be _dead _now! And so would Angela, and Mike, and the rest of the class! Can you _stop _blaming yourself for something that was out of your hands?"

Slowly, he nodded at me, but I could see the angst and despair in his eyes.

I sighed. It would take a lot longer to get him to stop feeling guilty. Hopefully, the rest of the books would convince him.

**Unfortunately the lecture was on cellular anatomy, something I'd already studied. I took notes carefully anyway, always looking down.**

**I couldn't stop myself from peeking occasionally through the screen of my hair at the strange boy next to me. During the whole class, he never relaxed his stiff position on the edge of his chair, sitting as far from me as possible. I could see his hand on his left leg was clenched into a fist, tendons standing out under his pale skin. This, too, he never relaxed. He had the long sleeves of his white shirt pushed up to his elbows, and his forearm was surprisingly hard and muscular beneath his light skin. He wasn't nearly as slight as he'd looked next to his burly brother.**

Edward laughed, and the darkness in his eyes dissipated. "Well love, thank you for finally stopping with the tall and lanky description."

**The class seemed to drag on longer than the others. Was it because the day was finally coming to a close, or because I was waiting for his tight fist to loosen? It never did; he continued to sit so still it looked like he wasn't breathing. **

"Shit," Edward cursed. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice that."

**What was wrong with him? Was this his normal behaviour?**

**I questioned my judgment on Jessica's bitterness at lunch today. Maybe she was not as resentful as I'd thought. **

**It couldn't have anything to do with me. He didn't know me from Eve.**

**I peeked up at him one more time, and regretted it. He was glaring down at me again, his black eyes full of revulsion. As I flinched away from him, shrinking against my chair, the phrase if looks could kill suddenly ran through my mind.**

The Cullens laughed. "Oh, Bella darlin' you'll make us have heart attacks if you continue this," Jasper drawled.

**At that moment, the bell rang loudly, making me jump, and Edward Cullen was out of his seat. Fluidly he rose — he was much taller than I'd thought — his back to me, and he was out the door before anyone else was out of their seat.**

**I sat frozen in my seat, staring blankly after him. He was so mean. It wasn't fair.**

Esme glared at her son. "You made that poor girl feel so bad, Edward," she chided. "I'm so sorry, Bella," Edward said, hugging me. "It's alright, Edward. Forget it, now. It's behind us."

**I began gathering up my things slowly, trying to block the anger that filled me, for fear my eyes would tear up. For some reason, my temper was hardwired to my tear ducts. I usually cried when I was angry, a humiliating tendency.**

**"Aren't you Isabella Swan?" a male voice asked.**

**I looked up to see a cute, baby-faced boy-**

Everyone howled in laughter. "Cute baby-faced boy?" Jacob laughed. "That's too nice a description for that moron."

**-his pale blond hair carefully gelled into orderly spikes, smiling at me in a friendly way. He obviously didn't think I smelled bad.**

**"Bella," I corrected him, with a smile.**

**"I'm Mike."**

"Ooh, is this the Mike Dad was getting so irritated about?" Renesmee asked, leaning forward eagerly.

**"Hi, Mike."**

**"Do you need any help finding your next class?"**

**"I'm headed to the gym, actually. I think I can find it."**

**"That's my next class, too." He seemed thrilled, though it wasn't that big of a coincidence in a school this small.**

**We walked to class together; he was a chatterer — he supplied most of the conversation, which made it easy for me. He'd lived in California till he was ten, so he knew how I felt about the sun. It turned out he was in my English class also. He was the nicest person I'd met today.**

Edward's face was black as thunder. "It's taking all my self-control to storm over to his house and kill him." I rubbed his back soothingly. "Don't worry, later on, Mike just becomes a nuisance."

**But as we were entering the gym, he asked, "So, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that."**

**I cringed. So I wasn't the only one who had noticed. And, apparently, that wasn't Edward Cullen's usual behaviour. I decided to play dumb.**

**"Was that the boy I sat next to in Biology?" I asked artlessly.**

**"Yes," he said. "He looked like he was in pain or something."**

"Almost unbearable pain," Edward sighed.

**"I don't know," I responded. "I never spoke to him." "He's a weird guy." Mike lingered by me instead of heading to the dressing room. "If I were lucky enough to sit by you, I would have talked to you."**

"NEWTON!" Edward bellowed, and started to get up. I pulled him back down. "Oh, come on, Edward don't be such a _guy_."

**I smiled at him before walking through the girls' locker room door. He was friendly and clearly admiring.**

**But it wasn't enough to ease my irritation.**

**The Gym teacher, Coach Clapp, found me a uniform but didn't make me dress down for today's class.**

**At home, only two years of RE. were required. Here, P.E. was mandatory all four years. Forks was literally my personal hell on Earth.**

Renesmee giggled.

**I watched four volleyball games running simultaneously. Remembering how many injuries I had sustained— and inflicted — playing volleyball, I felt faintly nauseated.**

**The final bell rang at last. I walked slowly to the office to return my paperwork. The rain had drifted away, but the wind was strong, and colder. I wrapped my arms around myself.**

**When I walked into the warm office, I almost turned around and walked back out.**

**Edward Cullen stood at the desk in front of me. I recognized again that tousled bronze hair. He didn't appear to notice the sound of my entrance. I stood pressed against the back wall, waiting for the receptionist to be free.**

**He was arguing with her in a low, attractive voice. I quickly picked up the gist of the argument. He was trying to trade from sixth-hour Biology to another time — any other time.**

**I just couldn't believe that this was about me. It had to be something else, something that happened before I entered the Biology room. The look on his face must have been about another aggravation entirely. It was impossible that this stranger could take such a sudden, intense dislike to me.**

"Don't you dare blame yourself, Edward," I said, before Edward could apologize again.

**The door opened again, and the cold wind suddenly gusted through the room, rustling the papers on the desk, swirling my hair around my face. The girl who came in merely stepped to the desk, placed a note in the wire basket, and walked out again. **

**But Edward Cullen's back stiffened, and he turned slowly to glare**

**at me — his face was absurdly handsome — with piercing, hate-filled eyes. For an instant, I felt a thrill of genuine fear, raising the hair on my arms. **

"Finally you get scared!" Emmett exulted. "I was beginning to think nothing could make you fear Eddie over here."

Edward shot Emmett a scathing look.

**The look only lasted a second, but it chilled me more than the freezing wind. He turned back to the receptionist.**

**"Never mind, then," he said hastily in a voice like velvet. **

"Bella, you really have the most absurd way of likening things," Rosalie said, smiling.

**"I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help." And he turned on his heel without another look at me, and disappeared out the door.**

**I went meekly to the desk, my face white for once instead of red, and handed her the signed slip.**

**"How did your first day go, dear?" the receptionist asked maternally.**

**"Fine," I lied, my voice weak. She didn't look convinced.**

**When I got to the truck, it was almost the last car in the lot. It seemed like a haven, already the closest thing to home I had in this damp green hole. I sat inside for a while, just staring out the windshield blankly. But soon I was cold enough to need the heater, so I turned the key and the engine roared to life.**

**I headed back to Charlie's house, fighting tears the whole way there.**

"That's the end of the first chapter," Carlisle said, looking up at us. Edward kissed my cheek quickly. "I'm sorry about that, Bella," he said in my ear. I rolled my eyes before kissing him back.

"Edward, I got over that so long ago. Apology accepted. Now can we let it go?" I asked gently.

He nodded as Ness bounced up and down in her seat. "Let's continue!" she said eagerly. "Who's next?" Esme took the book from Carlisle. "I'll read the next chapter."

She turned the page and started to read.

_Please review! _


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey everyone! I hope you like this chapter…here we go! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga. _

*Edward POV*

We sat waiting for Esme to start the next chapter. I was personally dying to know more of Bella's thoughts-everything she had kept secret from me for the two years of her life that she had met me.

Lovely, forgiving Bella had immediately forbidden me from feeling guilty for all the pain I had caused her in the previous chapter. I was anxious as to how she would perceive me in this one.

Esme turned to the next chapter.

**Open Book**, she read.

**The next day was better…and worse.**

**It was better because it wasn't raining yet, though the clouds were dense and opaque. It was easier because I knew what to expect of my day. Mike came to sit by me in English, and walked me to my next class, with Chess Club Eric glaring at him all the while; that was nattering.**

**People didn't look at me quite as much as they had yesterday. I sat with a big group at lunch that included Mike, Eric, Jessica, and several other people whose names and faces I now remembered. I began to feel like I was treading water, instead of drowning in it.**

**It was worse because I was tired; I still couldn't sleep with the wind echoing around the house. It was worse because Mr Varner called on me in Trig when my hand wasn't raised and I had the wrong answer. It was miserable because I had to play volleyball, and the one time I didn't cringe out of the way of the ball, I hit my teammate in the head with it. And it was worse because Edward Cullen wasn't in school at all.**

"But I thought you didn't like him?" Emmett asked, looking at Bella quizzically. She shrugged. "I suppose I'll explain later on in the book."

**All morning I was dreading lunch, fearing his bizarre glares.**

I winced but before I could say anything Bella stomped on my foot hard, warning me not to apologize again. I kept my mouth shut.

**Part of me wanted to confront him and demand to know what his problem was. While I was lying sleepless in my bed, I even imagined what I would say. But I knew myself too well to think I would really have the guts to do it. I made the Cowardly Lion look like the terminator.**

"Bella, you're the bravest person I know. Who else would have dared Ito spend time with a vampire? Who else would stay their ground and not run even when so many shocking secrets are revealed?" I asked rhetorically, hugging her close to me.

**But when I walked into the cafeteria with Jessica — trying to keep my eyes from sweeping the place for him, and failing entirely — I saw that his four siblings of sorts were sitting together at the same table, and he was not with them.**

**Mike intercepted us and steered us to his table. Jessica seemed elated by the attention, and her friends quickly joined us. But as I tried to listen to their easy chatter, I was terribly uncomfortable, waiting nervously for the moment he would arrive. I hoped that he would simply ignore me when he came, and prove my suspicions false.**

**He didn't come, and as time passed I grew more and more tense.**

**I walked to Biology with more confidence when, by the end of lunch, he still hadn't showed. Mike, who was taking on the qualities of a golden retriever-**

Rosalie and Emmett snorted.

**-walked faithfully by my side to class. I held my breath at the door, but Edward Cullen wasn't there, either. I exhaled and went to my seat. **

**Mike followed, talking about an upcoming trip to the beach. He lingered by my desk till the bell rang. Then he smiled at me wistfully and went to sit by a girl with braces and a bad perm. It looked like I was going to have to do something about Mike, and it wouldn't be easy. **

"It would have been easy if you had just told him no!" I cried in exasperation. Newton was really starting to get on my last nerve.

**In a town like this, where everyone lived on top of everyone else, diplomacy was essential. I had never been enormously tactful; I had no practice dealing with overly friendly boys.**

**I was relieved that I had the desk to myself, that Edward was absent. I told myself that repeatedly. But I couldn't get rid of the nagging suspicion that I was the reason he wasn't there. It was ridiculous, and egotistical, to think that I could affect anyone that strongly. It was impossible. And yet I couldn't stop worrying that it was true.**

"You are frighteningly perceptive, Bella," Jake said.

**When the school day was finally done, and the blush was fading out of my cheeks from the volleyball incident, I changed quickly back into my jeans and navy blue sweater. I hurried from the girls' locker room, pleased to find that I had successfully evaded my retriever friend for the moment.**

**I walked swiftly out to the parking lot. It was crowded now with fleeing students. I got in my truck and dug through my bag to make sure I had what I needed.**

**Last night I'd discovered that Charlie couldn't cook much besides fried eggs and bacon. So I requested that I be assigned kitchen detail for the duration of my stay. He was willing enough to hand over the keys to the banquet hall. I also found out that he had no food in the house. **

**So I had my shopping list and the cash from the jar in the cupboard labelled FOOD MONEY, and I was on my way to the Thriftway.**

**I gunned my deafening engine to life, ignoring the heads that turned in my direction, and backed carefully into a place in the line of cars that were waiting to exit the parking lot. As I waited, trying to pretend that the ear-splitting rumble was coming from someone else's car, I saw the two Cullens and the Hale twins getting into their car. **

**It was the shiny new Volvo. Of course. **

"What is that supposed to mean?" Alice asked, frowning. Bella groaned-she had obviously recalled what came next.

**I hadn't noticed their clothes before — I'd been too mesmerized by their faces. Now that I looked, it was obvious that they were all dressed exceptionally well; simply, but in clothes that subtly hinted at designer origins. With their remarkable good looks, the style with which they carried themselves, they could have worn dishrags and pulled it off. **

"If people had wanted to see four exceptionally pale vampires half exposed and glimmering in the sun," Alice scoffed.

**It seemed excessive for them to have both looks and money.**

"But the price for both was the highest you could ever pay," I said quietly. "We would have traded it all for a human life."

**But as far as I could tell, life worked that way most of the time. It didn't look as if it bought them any acceptance here.**

**No, I didn't fully believe that. The isolation must be their desire; I couldn't imagine any door that wouldn't be opened by that degree of beauty.**

"It was better that we were isolated rather than risk a mass massacre," Jasper said dryly.

**They looked at my noisy truck as I passed them, just like everyone else. I kept my eyes straight forward and was relieved when I finally was free of the school grounds.**

**The Thriftway was not far from the school, just a few streets south, off the highway. It was nice to be inside the supermarket; it felt normal. I did the shopping at home, and I fell into the pattern of the familiar task gladly. The store was big enough inside that I couldn't hear the tapping of the rain on the roof to remind me where I was.**

**When I got home, I unloaded all the groceries, stuffing them in wherever I could find an open space. I hoped Charlie wouldn't mind. I wrapped potatoes in foil and stuck them in the oven to bake, covered a steak in marinade and balanced it on top of a carton of eggs in the fridge.**

**When I was finished with that, I took my book bag upstairs. Before starting my homework, I changed into a pair of dry sweats, pulled my damp hair up into a pony-tail, and checked my e-mail for the first time. I had three messages.**

**"Bella," my mom wrote…**

**Write me as soon as you get in. Tell me how your flight was. Is it raining? I miss you already.**

**I'm almost finished packing for Florida, but I can't find my pink blouse. Do you know where I put it? Phil says hi. Mom.**

"Renee was always very scatter-brained," Bella explained to Ness. "I had to look after most things in the house."

**I sighed and went to the next. It was sent eight hours after the first.**

**"Bella," she wrote…**

**Why haven't you e-mailed me yet? What are you waiting for? Mom.**

**The last was from this morning. **

**Isabella,**

**If I haven't heard from you by 5:30 p.m. today I'm calling Charlie.**

**I checked the clock. I still had an hour, but my mom was well known for jumping the gun.**

**Mom,**

**Calm down. I'm writing right now. Don't do anything rash.**

**Bella.**

**I sent that, and began again.**

**Mom,**

**Everything is great. Of course it's raining. I was waiting for something to write about. School isn't bad, just a little repetitive. I met some nice kids who sit by me at lunch.**

**Your blouse is at the dry cleaners - you were supposed to pick it up Friday.**

**Charlie bought me a truck, can you believe it? I love it. It's old, but really sturdy, which is good, you know, for me.**

**I miss you, too. I'll write again soon, but I'm not going to check my e-mail every five minutes.**

**Relax, breathe. I love you.**

**Bella.**

"Why didn't you tell her about Dad?" Ness asked. "Your mom was that type of person-she never wanted to trouble anyone with her problems. She would keep it all locked up," I told my daughter.

**I had decided to read Wuthering Heights — the novel we were currently studying in English — yet again for the fun of it-**

"Only you Bella, would read a classic for fun," Jake and Alice chimed simultaneously. "I mean, think of all the shopping you could have done!" Alice said, apparently horrified by the amount of time Bella had supposedly "wasted".

**-and that's what I was doing when Charlie came home. I'd lost track of the time, and I hurried downstairs to take the potatoes out and put the steak in to broil.**

**"Bella?" my father called out when he heard me on the stairs.**

**Who else? I thought to myself. **

"Oh, I don't know," Emmett said mischievously. "I gather there was a secret night-time visitor that Charlie was rather in the dark about." Ness looked curiously at us, and Bella immediately directed her attention back towards the book.

**"Hey, Dad, welcome home."**

"**Thanks." He hung up his gun belt and stepped out of his boots as I bustled about the kitchen. As far as I was aware, he'd never shot the gun on the job. But he kept it ready. When I came here as a child, he would always remove the bullets as soon as he walked in the door. I guess he considered me old enough now not to shoot myself by accident, and not depressed enough to shoot myself on purpose.**

**"What's for dinner?" he asked warily. My mother was an imaginative cook, and her experiments weren't always edible. I was surprised, and sad, that he seemed to remember that far back.**

**"Steak and potatoes," I answered, and he looked relieved.**

**He seemed to feel awkward standing in the kitchen doing nothing; he lumbered into the living room to watch TV while I worked. We were both more comfortable that way. I made a salad while the steaks cooked, and set the table.**

**I called him in when dinner was ready, and he sniffed appreciatively as he walked into the room.**

**"Smells good, Bell."**

**"Thanks."**

**We ate in silence for a few minutes. It wasn't uncomfortable. Neither of us was bothered by the quiet. In some ways, we were well suited for living together.**

**"So, how did you like school? Have you made any friends?" he asked as he was taking seconds.**

**"Well, I have a few classes with a girl named Jessica. I sit with her friends at lunch. And there's this boy, Mike, who's very friendly. Everybody seems pretty nice." With one outstanding exception.**

I tried to remember that this book was talking about the past.

**"That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid — nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town. He makes a good living off all the backpackers who come through here."**

**"Do you know the Cullen family?" I asked hesitantly.**

**"Dr. Cullen's family? Sure. Dr. Cullen's a great man."**

"Well glad to know Chief Swan has such a great opinion of me," Carlisle smiled.

**"They… the kids… are a little different. They don't seem to fit in very well at school."**

**Charlie surprised me by looking angry.**

**"People in this town," he muttered. "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here," he continued, getting louder. **

**"We're lucky to have him — **

"Lucky that Carlisle could control his thirst more like," I commented.

**-lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. He's an asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. **

I grinned, remembering some of the thoughts that had run through Charlie's mind when we had first moved to Forks.

**I thought we might have some problems with them. But they're all very mature — I haven't had one speck of trouble from any of them. That's more than I can say for the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should — camping trips every other weekend… **

"If only Charlie knew what our "camping trips" really were," Rosalie said, grinning.

**Just because they're newcomers, people have to talk."**

**It was the longest speech I'd ever heard Charlie make. He must feel strongly about whatever people were saying.**

**I backpedalled. "They seemed nice enough to me. I just noticed they kept to themselves. They're all very attractive," I added, trying to be more complimentary.**

**"You should see the doctor," Charlie said, laughing. "It's a good thing he's happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around."**

Everyone laughed when peaceful Esme let out a sudden, low growl. She looked horrified at herself and quickly continued reading, while Carlisle placed a comforting arm around his wife's shoulder.

**We lapsed back into silence as we finished eating. He cleared the table while I started on the dishes. He went back to the TV, and after I finished washing the dishes by hand — no dishwasher — I went upstairs unwillingly to work on my math homework.**

**I could feel a tradition in the making. That night it was finally quiet. I fell asleep quickly, exhausted.**

**The rest of the week was uneventful. I got used to the routine of my classes. By Friday I was able to recognize, if not name, almost all the students at school. In Gym, the kids on my team learned not to pass me the ball and to step quickly in front of me if the other team tried to take advantage of my weakness.**

**I happily stayed out of their way.**

**Edward Cullen didn't come back to school.**

**Every day, I watched anxiously until the rest of the Cullens entered the cafeteria without him. Then I could relax and join in the lunchtime conversation. Mostly it centred around a trip to the La Push Ocean Park in two weeks that Mike was putting together. I was invited, and I had agreed to go, more out of politeness than desire. Beaches should be hot and dry.**

Jake pouted. "Our beach was perfectly fine!" Bella quickly calmed him down. "Relax Jake. Soon it was one of my favourite places in the world. Remember how much time we spent there?" "Much more than I would have liked," I muttered to myself. Bella heard and rolled her eyes.

**By Friday I was perfectly comfortable entering my Biology class, no longer worried that Edward would be there. For all I knew, he had dropped out of school. I tried not to think about him, but I couldn't totally suppress the worry that I was responsible for his continued absence, ridiculous as it seemed.**

I tried not to feel guilty.

**My first weekend in Forks passed without incident. Charlie, unused to spending time in the usually empty house, worked most of the weekend. I cleaned the house, got ahead on my homework, and wrote my mom more bogusly cheerful e-mail.**

**I did drive to the library Saturday, but it was so poorly stocked that I didn't bother to get a card; I would have to make a date to visit Olympia or Seattle soon and find a good bookstore. I wondered idly what kind of gas mileage the truck got… and shuddered at the thought.**

So did the rest of the family.

**The rain stayed soft over the weekend, quiet, so I was able to sleep well.**

**People greeted me in the parking lot Monday morning. I didn't know all their names, but I waved back and smiled at everyone. It was colder this morning, but happily not raining. In English, Mike took his accustomed seat by my side. We had a pop quiz on Wuthering Heights. It was straightforward, very easy.**

"I failed that test," Jake said, leaning back. "Only Bella would say a quiz on Wuthering Heights was easy."

**All in all, I was feeling a lot more comfortable than I had thought I would feel by this point. More comfortable than I had ever expected to feel here.**

**When we walked out of class, the air was full of swirling bits of white. I could hear people shouting excitedly to each other. The wind bit at my cheeks, my nose.**

**"Wow," Mike said. "It's snowing."**

**I looked at the little cotton fluffs that were building up along the sidewalk and swirling erratically past my face.**

**"Ew." Snow. There went my good day.**

"How do you not like snow, Mom?" Ness asked in surprise. Bella shrugged. "I hated cold back then."

**He looked surprised. "Don't you like snow?"**

**"No. That means it's too cold for rain." Obviously. "Besides, I thought it was supposed to come down in flakes — you know, each one unique and all that. These just look like the ends of Q-tips."**

**"Haven't you ever seen snow fall before?" he asked incredulously.**

**"Sure I have." I paused. "On TV."**

**Mike laughed. And then a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked into the back of his head. We both turned to see where it came from. I had my suspicions about Eric, who was walking away, his back toward us — in the wrong direction for his next class. Mike apparently had the same notion. He bent over and began scraping together a pile of the white mush.**

**"I'll see you at lunch, okay?" I kept walking as I spoke. "Once people start throwing wet stuff, I go inside."**

**He just nodded, his eyes on Eric's retreating figure.**

**Throughout the morning, everyone chattered excitedly about the snow; apparently it was the first snowfall of the new year. I kept my mouth shut. Sure, it was drier than rain — until it melted in your socks.**

**I walked alertly to the cafeteria with Jessica after Spanish. Mush balls were flying everywhere. I kept a binder in my hands, ready to use it as a shield if necessary. Jessica thought I was hilarious, but something in my expression kept her from lobbing a snowball at me herself.**

**Mike caught up to us as we walked in the doors, laughing, with ice melting the spikes in his hair. He and Jessica were talking animatedly about the snow fight as we got in line to buy food. I glanced toward that table in the corner out of habit. And then I froze where I stood. There were five people at the table.**

**Jessica pulled on my arm.**

**"Hello? Bella? What do you want?"**

**I looked down; my ears were hot. I had no reason to feel self-conscious, I reminded myself. I hadn't done anything wrong.**

"No, you didn't," I murmured.

**"What's with Bella?" Mike asked Jessica.**

**"Nothing," I answered. "I'll just get a soda today." I caught up to the end of the line.**

**"Aren't you hungry?" Jessica asked.**

**"Actually, I feel a little sick," I said, my eyes still on the floor.**

**I waited for them to get their food, and then followed them to a table, my eyes on my feet.**

**I sipped my soda slowly, my stomach churning. Twice Mike asked, with unnecessary concern, how I was feeling.**

**I told him it was nothing, but I was wondering if I should play it up and escape to the nurse's office for the next hour.**

**Ridiculous. I shouldn't have to run away.**

I had made her want to run away. I couldn't help feeling ashamed.

**I decided to permit myself one glance at the Cullen family's table. If he was glaring at me, I would skip Biology, like the coward I was.**

"Edward, you intimidated her that much?" Emmett asked. "You?" "I mean, it was freaky!" Bella argued. "He seemed to be glaring at me for no reason!"

"I don't blame you, though, Edward," she turned to me. "I could never blame you."

**I kept my head down and glanced up under my lashes. None of them were looking this way. I lifted my head a little.**

**They were laughing. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett all had their hair entirely saturated with melting snow.**

**Alice and Rosalie were leaning away as Emmett shook his dripping hair toward them. **

"You still owe me for getting that shit in my hair," Rosalie glared at Emmett. "Babe, I got you that new Ferrari you wanted, remember? We're even!" Emmett protested.

Esme left them to their bickering and continued reading.

**They were enjoying the snowy day, just like everyone else — only they looked more like a scene from a movie than the rest of us. **

**But, aside from the laughter and playfulness, there was something different, and I couldn't quite pinpoint what that difference was. I examined Edward the most carefully. His skin was less pale, I decided —flushed from the snow fight maybe — the circles under his eyes much less noticeable. **

"You can notice that?" I marvelled. "No wonder you could figure it out…"

**But there was something more. I pondered, staring, trying to isolate the change.**

**"Bella, what are you staring at?" Jessica intruded, her eyes following my stare.**

**At that precise moment, his eyes flashed over to meet mine.**

**I dropped my head, letting my hair fall to conceal my face. I was sure, though, in the instant our eyes met, that he didn't look harsh or unfriendly as he had the last time I'd seen him. He looked merely curious again, unsatisfied in some way.**

"I was. By your irritating mind."

**"Edward Cullen is staring at you," Jessica giggled in my ear.**

**"He doesn't look angry, does he?" I couldn't help asking.**

**"No," she said, sounding confused by my question. "Should he be?"**

**"I don't think he likes me," I confided. **

"Oh, Bella," I sighed. "I could never hate you."

**I still felt queasy. I put my head down on my arm.**

**"The Cullens don't like anybody… well, they don't notice anybody enough to like them. But he's still staring at you."**

**"Stop looking at him," I hissed.**

**She snickered, but she looked away. I raised my head enough to make sure that she did, contemplating violence if she resisted.**

Everyone in the room snorted. "You, Bella?" Jake looked disbelieving. "_You _were going to be violent? I'd like to see that. As far as I can remember, the last time you were violent, you broke your hand."

Bella quickly flashed Jake a warning look, and he subsided. Thankfully, Renesmee hadn't noticed the last remark.

**Mike interrupted us then — he was planning an epic battle of the blizzard in the parking lot after school and wanted us to join. Jessica agreed enthusiastically. The way she looked at Mike left little doubt that she would be up for anything he suggested. I kept silent. I would have to hide in the gym until the parking lot cleared.**

**For the rest of the lunch hour I very carefully kept my eyes at my own table. I decided to honour the bargain I'd made with myself. Since he didn't look angry, I would go to Biology. My stomach did frightened little flips at the thought of sitting next to him again.**

"Edward, this book is talking about the past. Please remember that," Bella told me.

**I didn't really want to walk to class with Mike as usual — he seemed to be a popular target for the snowball snipers — but when we went to the door, everyone besides me groaned in unison. It was raining, washing all traces of the snow away in clear, icy ribbons down the side of the walkway. I pulled my hood up, secretly pleased. I would be free to go straight home after Gym.**

**Mike kept up a string of complaints on the way to building four.**

**Once inside the classroom, I saw with relief that my table was still empty. Mr Banner was walking around the room, distributing one microscope and box of slides to each table. Class didn't start for a few minutes, and the room buzzed with conversation. I kept my eyes away from the door, doodling idly on the cover of my notebook.**

**I heard very clearly when the chair next to me moved, but my eyes stayed carefully focused on the pattern I was drawing.**

**"Hello," said a quiet, musical voice. I looked up, stunned that he was speaking to me. He was sitting as far away from me as the desk allowed, but his chair was angled toward me. His hair was dripping wet, dishevelled — even so, he looked like he'd just finished shooting a commercial for hair gel. **

"Mom, you're impossible," Renesmee laughed.

**His dazzling face was friendly, open, a slight smile on his flawless lips. But his eyes were careful.**

**"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan."**

**My mind was spinning with confusion. Had I made up the whole thing? He was perfectly polite now. I had to speak; he was waiting. But I couldn't think of anything conventional to say.**

**"H-how do you know my name?" I stammered.**

**He laughed a soft, enchanting laugh.**

"I am going out of this room until this chapter is over," Bella said, before standing up and walking out.

**"Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The whole town's been waiting for you to arrive."**

**I grimaced. I knew it was something like that.**

**"No," I persisted stupidly. "I meant, why did you call me Bella?"**

**He seemed confused. "Do you prefer Isabella?"**

**"No, I like Bella," I said. "But I think Charlie — I mean my dad — must call me Isabella behind my back— that's what everyone here seems to know me as," I tried to explain, feeling like an utter moron.**

**"Oh." He let it drop. **

"She noticed that I called her Bella instead of Isabella right away. I was terrified by her observance," I explained to my family, who were looking confused.

**I looked away awkwardly.**

**Thankfully, Mr Banner started class at that moment. I tried to concentrate as he explained the lab we would be doing today. The slides in the box were out of order. Working as lab partners, we had to separate the slides of onion root tip cells into the phases of mitosis they represented and label them accordingly. We weren't supposed to use our books. In twenty minutes, he would be coming around to see who had it right.**

**"Get started," he commanded.**

**"Ladies first, partner?" Edward asked. I looked up to see him smiling a crooked smile so beautiful that I could only stare at him like an idiot.**

"OH MY GOD, I AM GOING TO THROW THIS BOOK OUT OF THE WINDOW!" Bella yelled from the room next door, over our laughter.

**"Or I could start, if you wish." The smile faded; he was obviously wondering if I was mentally competent.**

Jake and Emmett were rolling on the floor.

**"No," I said, flushing. "I'll go ahead."**

**I was showing off, just a little. I'd already done this lab, and I knew what I was looking for. It should be easy. I snapped the first slide into place under the microscope and adjusted it quickly to the 40X objective. I studied the slide briefly.**

**My assessment was confident. "Prophase."**

**"Do you mind if I look?" he asked as I began to remove the slide. His hand caught mine, to stop me, as he asked. His fingers were ice-cold, like he'd been holding them in a snowdrift before class. But that wasn't why I jerked my hand away so quickly. When he touched me, it stung my hand as if an electric current had passed through us.**

**"I'm sorry," he muttered, pulling his hand back immediately. However, he continued to reach for the microscope. I watched him, still staggered, as he examined the slide for an even shorter time than I had.**

**"Prophase," he agreed, writing it neatly in the first space on our worksheet. He swiftly switched out the first slide for the second, and then glanced at it cursorily.**

**"Anaphase," he murmured, writing it down as he spoke.**

**I kept my voice indifferent. "May I?"**

**He smirked and pushed the microscope to me.**

"Yes, because there is nothing that the great Edward Cullen doesn't know," Bella called from the next room. "Just in case you were wondering."

**I looked through the eyepiece eagerly, only to be disappointed. Dang it, he was right.**

"When are you ever not, Dad?" Renesmee laughed again.

**"Slide three?" I held out my hand without looking at him.**

**He handed it to me; it seemed like he was being careful not to touch my skin again.**

**I took the most fleeting look I could manage.**

**"Interphase." I passed him the microscope before he could ask for it. He took a swift peek, and then wrote it down. I would have written it while he looked, but his clear, elegant script intimidated me. **

"Even his writing? You've got to be kidding me, Bella!" Emmett said.

**I didn't want to spoil the page with my clumsy scrawl.**

**We were finished before anyone else was close. I could see Mike and his partner comparing two slides again and again, and another group had their book open under the table.**

**Which left me with nothing to do but try to not look at him… unsuccessfully. I glanced up, and he was staring at me, that same inexplicable look of frustration in his eyes. Suddenly I identified that subtle difference in his face.**

**"Did you get contacts?" I blurted out unthinkingly.**

**He seemed puzzled by my unexpected question. "No."**

**"Oh," I mumbled. "I thought there was something different about your eyes."**

**He shrugged, and looked away.**

**In fact, I was sure there was something different. I vividly remembered the flat black colour of his eyes the last time he'd glared at me — the colour was striking against the background of his pale skin and his auburn hair. Today, his eyes were a completely different colour: a strange ochre, darker than butterscotch, but with the same golden tone.**

"I'm surprised Bella didn't figure it out sooner what with everything that she's already noticed," Carlisle commented.

**I didn't understand how that could be, unless he was lying for some reason about the contacts. Or maybe Forks was making me crazy in the literal sense of the word.**

**I looked down. His hands were clenched into hard fists again.**

**Mr Banner came to our table then, to see why we weren't working. He looked over our shoulders to glance at the completed lab, and then stared more intently to check the answers.**

**"So, Edward, didn't you think Isabella should get a chance with the microscope?" Mr Banner asked.**

**"Bella," Edward corrected automatically. "Actually, she identified three of the five."**

**Mr Banner looked at me now; his expression was sceptical.**

**"Have you done this lab before?" he asked. I smiled sheepishly. "Not with onion root."**

**"Whitefish blastula?"**

**"Yeah."**

**Mr Banner nodded. "Were you in an advanced placement program in Phoenix?"**

**"Yes."**

**"Well," he said after a moment, "I guess it's good you two are lab partners." He mumbled something else as he walked away. **

"So the other students can actually learn something for themselves. That's what he said," I explained to my family.

Emmett snorted again. "He must have thought you two were a match made in heaven."

**After he left, I began doodling on my notebook again.**

**"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" Edward asked. I had the feeling that he was forcing himself to make small talk with me. Paranoia swept over me again. It was like he had heard my conversation with Jessica at lunch and was trying to prove me wrong.**

"I did hear it."

**"Not really," I answered honestly, instead of pretending to be normal like everyone else. I was still trying to dislodge the stupid feeling of suspicion, and I couldn't concentrate.**

**"You don't like the cold." It wasn't a question.**

**"Or the wet."**

**"Forks must be a difficult place for you to live," he mused.**

**"You have no idea," I muttered darkly.**

**He looked fascinated by what I said, for some reason I couldn't imagine. His face was such a distraction-**

"You used that to your advantage way too many times!" Bella yelled again. I had a feeling she was trying to avert my concentration from her remarks.

**-that I tried not to look at it any more than courtesy absolutely demanded.**

**"Why did you come here, then?"**

**No one had asked me that — not straight out like he did, demanding.**

**"It's… complicated."**

**"I think I can keep up," he pressed.**

**I paused for a long moment, and then made the mistake of meeting his gaze. His dark gold eyes confused me, and I answered without thinking.**

"Those stupid amazing eyes…" Bella mumbled, walking back into the room.

**"My mother got remarried," I said.**

**"That doesn't sound so complex," he disagreed, but he was suddenly sympathetic. "When did that happen?"**

**"Last September." My voice sounded sad, even to me.**

**"And you don't like him," Edward surmised, his tone still kind.**

**"No, Phil is fine. Too young, maybe, but nice enough."**

**"Why didn't you stay with them?"**

**I couldn't fathom his interest, but he continued to stare at me with penetrating eyes, as if my dull life story was somehow vitally important.**

**"Phil travels a lot. He plays ball for a living." I half-smiled.**

**"Have I heard of him?" he asked, smiling in response.**

**"Probably not. He doesn't play well. Strictly minor league. He moves around a lot."**

**"And your mother sent you here so that she could travel with him." He said it as an assumption again, not a question.**

**My chin raised a fraction. "No, she did not send me here. I sent myself."**

**His eyebrows knit together. "I don't understand," he admitted, and he seemed unnecessarily frustrated by that fact.**

Bella walked back into the room, obviously deciding that the worst was over. "You were so selfless…it confused me," I said to her as she sat down beside me.

**I sighed. Why was I explaining this to him? He continued to stare at me with obvious curiosity.**

**"She stayed with me at first, but she missed him. It made her unhappy… so I decided it was time to spend some quality time with Charlie." My voice was glum by the time I finished.**

**"But now you're unhappy," he pointed out.**

**"And?" I challenged.**

**"That doesn't seem fair." He shrugged, but his eyes were still intense.**

**I laughed without humour. "Hasn't anyone ever told you? Life isn't fair."**

"Well that's very optimistic," Renesmee said sarcastically, a gift she had inherited from her mother.

**"I believe I have heard that somewhere before," he agreed dryly.**

**"So that's all," I insisted, wondering why he was still staring at me that way.**

**His gaze became appraising. "You put on a good show," he said slowly. "But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."**

**I grimaced at him, resisting the impulse to stick out my tongue like a five-year-old, and looked away.**

Bella stuck out her tongue at me. "That's for all the times that you made me want to do that," she said, giggling.

**"Am I wrong?"**

**I tried to ignore him.**

**"I didn't think so," he murmured smugly.**

**"Why does it matter to you?" I asked, irritated. I kept my eyes away, watching the teacher make his rounds.**

**"That's a very good question," he muttered, so quietly that I wondered if he was talking to himself.**

**However, after a few seconds of silence, I decided that was the only answer I was going to get.**

**I sighed, scowling at the blackboard.**

**"Am I annoying you?" he asked. He sounded amused.**

**I glanced at him without thinking… and told the truth again. "Not exactly. I'm more annoyed at myself.**

**My face is so easy to read — my mother always calls me her open book." I frowned. "On the contrary, I find you very difficult to read." Despite everything that I'd said and he'd guessed, he sounded like he meant it.**

**"You must be a good reader then," I replied.**

**"Usually." **

"Oh, come on, Edward! You really had to say that?" Alice asked. "And you lecture me about blowing our cover."

**He smiled widely, flashing a set of perfect, ultra white teeth.**

"And ultra-dangerous."

**Mr Banner called the class to order then, and I turned with relief to listen. I was in disbelief that I'd just explained my dreary life to this bizarre, beautiful boy who may or may not despise me.**

"Definitely not."

**He'd seemed engrossed in our conversation, but now I could see, from the corner of my eye, that he was leaning away from me again, his hands gripping the edge of the table with unmistakable tension.**

**I tried to appear attentive as Mr Banner illustrated, with transparencies on the overhead projector, what I had seen without difficulty through the microscope. But my thoughts were unmanageable.**

**When the bell finally rang, Edward rushed as swiftly and as gracefully from the room as he had last Monday. And, like last Monday, I stared after him in amazement.**

**Mike skipped quickly to my side and picked up my books for me. I imagined him with a wagging tail.**

"When are you going to stop mentioning that idiot?" I asked in exasperation. "I've had enough of him!"

**"That was awful," he groaned. "They all looked exactly the same. You're lucky you had Cullen for a partner."**

**"I didn't have any trouble with it," I said, stung by his assumption. I regretted the snub instantly. "I've done the lab before, though," I added before he could get his feelings hurt.**

"Why do you care about his feelings?" I nearly growled. Bella shrugged. "It's called being polite, Edward," Esme put in. "Something you would do well to learn from Bella."

**"Cullen seemed friendly enough today," he commented as we shrugged into our raincoats. He didn't seem pleased about it.**

"He wasn't," I grinned.

**I tried to sound indifferent. "I wonder what was with him last Monday."**

**I couldn't concentrate on Mike's chatter as we walked to Gym, and RE. didn't do much to hold my attention, either. Mike was on my team today. He chivalrously covered my position as well as his own, so my wool-gathering was only interrupted when it was my turn to serve; my team ducked warily out of the way every time I was up.**

**The rain was just a mist as I walked to the parking lot, but I was happier when I was in the dry cab. I got the heater running, for once not caring about the mind-numbing roar of the engine. I unzipped my jacket, put the hood down, and fluffed my damp hair out so the heater could dry it on the way home.**

**I looked around me to make sure it was clear. That's when I noticed the still, white figure. Edward Cullen was leaning against the front door of the Volvo, three cars down from me, and staring intently in my direction. I swiftly looked away and threw the truck into reverse, almost hitting a rusty Toyota Corolla in my haste. Lucky for the Toyota, I stomped on the brake in time. It was just the sort of car that my truck would make scrap metal of. **

**I took a deep breath, still looking out the other side of my car, and cautiously pulled out again, with greater success. I stared straight ahead as I passed the Volvo, but from a peripheral peek, I would swear I saw him laughing.**

"It was the expression on your face," I explained to a pouting Bella. "You looked horrified that you could actually have hurt somebody. Did you know how delicate and fragile you really looked? It was so contrasting that I couldn't help laughing."

"I'll give you delicate and fragile," Bella grumbled, as Emmett took the book from Esme.

"I'll read next," he said, before turning to the next chapter.

"**Phenomenon."**

_I can't believe I got seven reviews in one day! Thank you to all the people who reviewed, followed and favourited, love you guys! I'll try to update soon! Till next time, take care! _


	3. Chapter 3

_Hey everyone! Thank you so so much to all those people who reviewed, followed and favourite, you really made my day. Yes, it is hard to write these kind of fanfics, and does require a lot of time but you guys totally make it worthwhile! _

_Here goes! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga. _

*Bella POV*

"**Phenomenon," **Emmett read. 

**When I opened my eyes in the morning, something was different. It was the light. It was still the grey-green light of a cloudy day in the forest, but it was clearer somehow. I realized there was no fog veiling my window.**

**I jumped up to look outside, and then groaned in horror.**

"Bet you fifty dollars it's because of the snow," Emmett shot at Jasper. "You're on," Jasper shot back.

**A fine layer of snow covered the yard-**

"Ha! Pay up, bro!" Emmett shouted in glee. Jasper groaned but passed a thick roll of bills to Emmett. I inwardly rolled my eyes.

**dusted the top of my truck, and whitened the road. But that wasn't the worst part. **

"You lost, bro!" Jasper yelled, delighted. "I want my fifty bucks!" "Why, Bella?" Emmett glared at me, as he passed Jasper's fifty dollars back to him, along with another fifty.

**All the rain from yesterday had frozen solid — coating the needles on the trees in fantastic, gorgeous patterns, and making the driveway a deadly ice slick. I had enough trouble not falling down when the ground was dry- **

"You mean you have enough trouble not falling down at all," Edward muttered dryly.

**-it might be safer for me to go back to bed now.**

**Charlie had left for work before I got downstairs. In a lot of ways, living with Charlie was like having my own place, and I found myself revelling in the aloneness instead of being lonely.**

**I threw down a quick bowl of cereal and some orange juice from the carton. I felt excited to go to school, and that scared me. I knew it wasn't the stimulating learning environment I was anticipating, or seeing my new set of friends. If I was being honest with myself, I knew I was eager to get to school because I would see Edward Cullen.**

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit," I muttered to myself. My book self was going to embarrass me to hell.

**And that was very, very stupid.**

**I should be avoiding him entirely after my brainless and embarrassing babbling yesterday. And I was suspicious of him; why should he lie about his eyes? I was still frightened of the hostility I sometimes felt emanating from him, and I was still tongue-tied whenever I pictured his perfect face.**

I tried to pretend like nothing was wrong, even though I could see the self-satisfied smirk on Edward's face. I stamped on his foot. Hard.

**I was well aware that my league and his league were spheres that did not touch. So I shouldn't be at all anxious to see him today.**

**It took every ounce of my concentration to make it down the icy brick driveway alive. I almost lost my balance when I finally got to the truck, but I managed to cling to the side mirror and save myself. Clearly, today was going to be nightmarish.**

**Driving to school, I distracted myself from my fear of falling and my unwanted speculations about Edward Cullen by thinking about Mike and Eric, and the obvious difference in how teenage boys responded to me here. I was sure I looked exactly the same as I had in Phoenix. **

"Oh, Bella, when will you ever feel that you're beautiful?" Esme sighed sadly, no doubt thinking about my low self-esteem. I smiled at her. "I don't feel that way anymore Esme. I'm confident now," I said, and her face brightened.

**Maybe it was just that the boys back home had watched me pass slowly through all the awkward phases of adolescence and still thought of me that way. **

**Perhaps it was because I was a novelty here, where novelties were few and far between. Possibly my crippling clumsiness was seen as endearing rather than pathetic, casting me as a damsel in distress. Whatever the reason, Mike's puppy dog behaviour and Eric's apparent rivalry with him were disconcerting. **

"And annoying," Edward growled.

**I wasn't sure if I didn't prefer being ignored.**

**My truck seemed to have no problem with the black ice that covered the roads. I drove very slowly, though, not wanting to carve a path of destruction through Main Street.**

"That decrepit truck and you driving?" Jasper said, raising an eyebrow. "That's the least dangerous thing I can think of." I shot Jasper a death glare.

**When I got out of my truck at school, I saw why I'd had so little trouble. Something silver caught my eye, and I walked to the back of the truck — carefully holding the side for support — to examine my tires.**

**There were thin chains crisscrossed in diamond shapes around them. Charlie had gotten up who knows how early to put snow chains on my truck. My throat suddenly felt tight. I wasn't used to being taken care of, and Charlie's unspoken concern caught me by surprise.**

"That's why you were looking so emotional…" Edward trailed off, and our eyes widened as we both realized what was coming next. "Oh crap," we groaned in unison, while Renesmee looked at us curiously.

**I was standing by the back corner of the truck, struggling to fight back the sudden wave of emotion the snow chains had brought on, when I heard an odd sound. It was a high-pitched screech, and it was fast becoming painfully loud. I looked up, startled.**

**I saw several things simultaneously. Nothing was moving in slow motion, the way it does in the movies. Instead, the adrenaline rush seemed to make my brain work much faster, and I was able to absorb in clear detail several things at once.**

**Edward Cullen was standing four cars down from me, staring at me in horror. His face stood out from a sea of faces, all frozen in the same mask of shock. But of more immediate importance was the dark blue van that was skidding, tires locked and squealing against the brakes, spinning wildly across the ice of the parking lot. It was going to hit the back corner of my truck, and I was standing between them.**

"No!" both Jake and Renesmee yelled in unison, the only two who hadn't known what had happened that day. Renesmee's eyes was wide and anguished-she leaned forward anxiously.

**I didn't even have time to close my eyes.**

**Just before I heard the shattering crunch of the van folding around the truck bed, something hit me, hard, but not from the direction I was expecting. **

**My head cracked against the icy blacktop, and I felt something solid and cold pinning me to the ground. I was lying on the pavement behind the tan car I'd parked next to. But I didn't have a chance to notice anything else, because the van was still coming.**

**It had curled gratingly around the end of the truck and, still spinning and sliding, was about to collide with me again.**

**A low oath made me aware that someone was with me-**

"EDWARD CULLEN!" Esme growled. "_What _have I told you about swearing in front of ladies!" Edward winced. "In my defence, Mom, I was kind of frustrated and annoyed," he said. "That van just wouldn't stop coming for her-you should have seen it, it was like she was literally a danger magnet."

"When is she ever not?" Jake agreed.

**-and the voice was impossible not to recognize. Two long, white hands shot out protectively in front of me, and the van shuddered to a stop a foot from my face, the large hands fitting providentially into a deep dent in the side of the van's body.**

Renesmee looked shocked. "But, Dad, you just exposed yourself-I thought you weren't allowed to show humans…" she trailed off and Edward smiled. "Don't worry, honey. In the end, everything turns out fine."

**Then his hands moved so fast they blurred. One was suddenly gripping under the body of the van, and something was dragging me, swinging my legs around like a rag dolls, till they hit the tire of the tan car. A groaning metallic thud hurt my ears, and the van settled, glass popping, onto the asphalt — exactly where, a second ago, my legs had been.**

**It was absolutely silent for one long second before the screaming began. In the abrupt bedlam, I could hear more than one person shouting my name. But more clearly than all the yelling, I could hear Edward Cullen's low, frantic voice in my ear.**

**"Bella? Are you all right?"**

**"I'm fine." My voice sounded strange. I tried to sit up, and realized he was holding me against the side of his body in an iron grasp.**

**"Be careful," he warned as I struggled. "I think you hit your head pretty hard." I became aware of a throbbing ache centred above my left ear.**

**"Ow," I said, surprised.**

**"That's what I thought." His voice, amazingly, sounded like he was suppressing laughter.**

I turned to Edward pointedly. "That reminds me. What was so funny that you were trying not to laugh?" I asked, glaring. "The tone of your voice, and the expression on your face…it looked like you were one of those comic book characters," I could clearly see Edward trying to stifle his laughter. .

**"How in the…" I trailed off, trying to clear my head, get my bearings. "How did you get over here so fast?"**

**"I was standing right next to you, Bella," he said, his tone serious again. I turned to sit up, and this time he let me, releasing his hold around my waist and sliding as far from me as he could in the limited space. I looked at his concerned, innocent expression and was disoriented again by the force of his gold-coloured eyes. What was I asking him?**

"Stupid annoying vampire eyes," I grumbled. "Do not even get me _started_ on how many times Edward tried to hypnotize me into doing his evil bidding."

Edward laughed. "On the contrary love, it was you who persuaded me most of the time."

**And then they found us, a crowd of people with tears streaming down their faces, shouting at each other, shouting at us.**

**"Don't move," someone instructed. "Get Tyler out of the van!" someone else shouted.**

**There was a flurry of activity around us. I tried to get up, but Edward's cold hand pushed my shoulder down.**

**"Just stay put for now."**

**"But it's cold," I complained. **

"Mom, you nearly _died_ and you're concerned about the cold?" Renesmee asked. "That is so…so…"

"Ridiculous", Edward and Renesmee finished and they high-fived.

"God save me," I muttered under my breath. I had a feeling my husband and daughter were going to drive me bonkers by the time we finished this book. Forget about the other three.

**It surprised me when he chuckled under his breath. There was an edge to the sound.**

**"You were over there," I suddenly remembered, and his chuckle stopped short. "You were by your car."**

**His expression turned hard. "No, I wasn't."**

**"I saw you." All around us was chaos. I could hear the gruffer voices of adults arriving on the scene. But I obstinately held on to our argument; I was right, and he was going to admit it.**

"She never gives up, does she?" Jake commiserated and Edward sighed. "You have no idea how much I suffered."

**"Bella, I was standing with you, and I pulled you out of the way." He unleashed the full, devastating power of his eyes on me-**

"As if everything you did before wasn't full power already," I mumbled.

**-as if trying to communicate something crucial.**

**"No." I set my jaw.**

**The gold in his eyes blazed. "Please, Bella."**

**"Why?" I demanded.**

**"Trust me," he pleaded, his soft voice overwhelming.**

**I could hear the sirens now. "Will you promise to explain everything to me later?"**

**"Fine," he snapped, abruptly exasperated.**

**"Fine," I repeated angrily.**

"Were they always like this?" Nessie asked. My traitorous family nodded, even Jake. I scowled at all of them.

**It took six EMTs and two teachers — Mr Varner and Coach Clapp — to shift the van far enough away from us to bring the stretchers in. Edward vehemently refused his, and I tried to do the same, but the traitor told them I'd hit my head and probably had a concussion.**

"The traitor?" Edward pouted. "I'm hurt, love." "You deserved it," I smiled sweetly at him.

**I almost died of humiliation when they put on the neck brace.**

"Was it really that bad, Bella?" Alice sighed. "It's not like they're forcing you to take your clothes off you know." "It was exactly like that," I glowered. "All because Mr Smart Aleck over here decided to act like a know-it-all."

**It looked like the entire school was there, watching soberly as they loaded me in the back of the ambulance. Edward got to ride in the front. It was maddening.**

"Yes, it was."

**To make matters worse, Chief Swan arrived before they could get me safely away.**

**"Bella!" he yelled in panic when he recognized me on the stretcher.**

**"I'm completely fine, Char — Dad," I sighed. "There's nothing wrong with me."**

**He turned to the closest EMT for a second opinion. I tuned him out to consider the jumble of inexplicable images churning chaotically in my head. When they'd lifted me away from the car, I had seen the deep dent in the tan car's bumper — a very distinct dent that fit the contours of Edward's shoulders… as if he had braced himself against the car with enough force to damage the metal frame…**

"Is there nothing that escapes your notice, Bella?"

**And then there was his family, looking on from the distance, with expressions that ranged from disapproval to fury but held no hint of concern for their brother's safety.**

"We were kind of upset that Eddie over here hadn't been done any harm. Could have gotten rid of him and his annoying powers," Emmett joked. Edward threw a cushion at him.

**I tried to think of a logical solution that could explain what I had just seen — a solution that excluded the assumption that I was insane.**

**Naturally, the ambulance got a police escort to the county hospital. I felt ridiculous the whole time they were unloading me. What made it worse was that Edward simply glided through the hospital doors under his own power. I ground my teeth together.**

**They put me in the emergency room, a long room with a line of beds separated by pastel-patterned curtains. A nurse put a pressure cuff on my arm and a thermometer under my tongue. Since no one bothered pulling the curtain around to give me some privacy, I decided I wasn't obligated to wear the stupid-looking neck brace anymore. When the nurse walked away, I quickly unfastened the Velcro and threw it under the bed.**

"Bella!" Carlisle was shocked. "You shouldn't have done that, you know. It could have seriously endangered your life if something had been wrong with your spinal cord."

"I'm sorry, Carlisle," I muttered. "It was kind of embarrassing."

**There was another flurry of hospital personnel, another stretcher brought to the bed next to me. I recognized Tyler Crowley from my Government class beneath the blood-stained bandages wrapped tightly around his head. Tyler looked a hundred times worse than I felt. But he was staring anxiously at me.**

**"Bella, I'm so sorry!"**

**"I'm fine, Tyler — you look awful, are you all right?" As we spoke, nurses began unwinding his soiled bandages, exposing a myriad of shallow slices all over his forehead and left cheek.**

**He ignored me. "I thought I was going to kill you! I was going too fast, and I hit the ice wrong…" He winced as one nurse started dabbing at his face.**

**"Don't worry about it; you missed me."**

**"How did you get out of the way so fast? You were there, and then you were gone…"**

**"Umm… Edward pulled me out of the way."**

**He looked confused. "Who?"**

**"Edward Cullen — he was standing next to me." I'd always been a terrible liar; I didn't sound convincing at all.**

The whole family scoffed.

**"Cullen? I didn't see him… wow, it was all so fast, I guess. Is he okay?"**

**"I think so. He's here somewhere, but they didn't make him use a stretcher."**

**I knew I wasn't crazy. What had happened? There was no way to explain away what I'd seen.**

**They wheeled me away then, to X-ray my head. I told them there was nothing wrong, and I was right.**

**Not even a concussion. I asked if I could leave, but the nurse said I had to talk to a doctor first. So I was trapped in the ER, waiting, harassed by Tyler's constant apologies and promises to make it up to me. No matter how many times I tried to convince him I was fine, he continued to torment himself. Finally, I closed my eyes and ignored him. He kept up a remorseful mumbling.**

**"Is she sleeping?" a musical voice asked. My eyes flew open.**

**Edward was standing at the foot of my bed, smirking. I glared at him. It wasn't easy — it would have been more natural to ogle.**

"Oh, I don't think so, love. I recall the number of times you glaring at me to exceed the number of times you ogling at me. By a lot."

"Well, that was only when you really asked for it!"

**"Hey, Edward, I'm really sorry —" Tyler began. Edward lifted a hand to stop him.**

**"No blood, no foul," he said, flashing his brilliant teeth. He moved to sit on the edge of Tyler's bed, facing me. He smirked again.**

"When does he ever not?" Emmett and Alice sighed.

**"So, what's the verdict?" he asked me.**

**"There's nothing wrong with me at all, but they won't let me go," I complained. "How come you aren't strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?"**

**"It's all about who you know," he answered. "But don't worry, I came to spring you."**

**Then a doctor walked around the corner, and my mouth fell open. He was young, he was blond… and he was handsomer than any movie star I'd ever seen. **

"Well, thank you kindly, Bella," Carlisle laughed. "Although I'm not really young at all, I'm afraid."

**He was pale, though, and tired-looking, with circles under his eyes. From Charlie's description, this had to be Edward's father.**

**"So, Miss Swan," Dr. Cullen said in a remarkably appealing voice-**

I was hoping a hole would open up and swallow me.

**-"how are you feeling?"**

**"I'm fine," I said, for the last time, I hoped.**

**He walked to the light-board on the wall over my head, and turned it on.**

**"Your X-rays look good," he said. "Does your head hurt? Edward said you hit it pretty hard."**

**"It's fine," I repeated with a sigh, throwing a quick scowl toward Edward.**

**The doctor's cool fingers probed lightly along my skull. He noticed when I winced.**

**"Tender?" he asked.**

**"Not really." I'd had worse.**

"Definitely," I sighed.

**I heard a chuckle, and looked over to see Edward's patronizing smile. My eyes narrowed.**

**"Well, your father is in the waiting room — you can go home with him now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all."**

**"Can't I go back to school?" I asked, imagining Charlie trying to be attentive.**

**"Maybe you should take it easy today."**

**I glanced at Edward. "Does he get to go to school?"**

**"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived," Edward said smugly.**

**"Actually," Dr. Cullen corrected, "most of the school seems to be in the waiting room."**

**"Oh no," I moaned, covering my face with my hands.**

**Dr. Cullen raised his eyebrows. "Do you want to stay?"**

**"No, no!" I insisted, throwing my legs over the side of the bed and hopping down quickly. Too quickly — I staggered, and Dr. Cullen caught me. He looked concerned.**

**"I'm fine," I assured him again. No need to tell him my balance problems had nothing to do with hitting my head.**

"Although it probably helped," Jake offered.

**"Take some Tylenol for the pain," he suggested as he steadied me.**

**"It doesn't hurt that bad," I insisted.**

**"It sounds like you were extremely lucky," Dr. Cullen said, smiling as he signed my chart with a flourish.**

**"Lucky Edward happened to be standing next to me," I amended with a hard glance at the subject of my statement.**

"Well, poor Dad seems to be the subject of your anger and frustration, Mom. You've been scowling at him a lot."

**"Oh, well, yes," Dr. Cullen agreed, suddenly occupied with the papers in front of him. Then he looked away, at Tyler, and walked to the next bed. My intuition flickered; the doctor was in on it.**

"In on it?" Edward laughed. "You're making it sound like we're spies on a mission to kill the king or something!"

**"I'm afraid that you'll have to stay with us just a little bit longer," he said to Tyler, and began checking his cuts.**

**As soon as the doctor's back was turned, I moved to Edward's side.**

**"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I hissed under my breath. He took a step back from me, his jaw suddenly clenched.**

**"Your father is waiting for you," he said through his teeth.**

**I glanced at Dr. Cullen and Tyler.**

**"I'd like to speak with you alone, if you don't mind," I pressed.**

**He glared, and then turned his back and strode down the long room. I nearly had to run to keep up. As soon as we turned the corner into a short hallway, he spun around to face me.**

**"What do you want?" he asked, sounding annoyed. His eyes were cold.**

**His unfriendliness intimidated me.**

"And here we are again," Emmett sighed. "Is there anything about Edward that _doesn't _intimidate you, Bella?" "Tell him to stop doing it then!" I shot back.

**My words came out with less severity than I'd intended. "You owe me an explanation," I reminded him.**

**"I saved your life — I don't owe you anything."**

**I flinched back from the resentment in his voice. **

Edward winced.

**"You promised."**

**"Bella, you hit your head, you don't know what you're talking about." His tone was cutting.**

"Bet you hundred that Bella doesn't back down," Emmett shot at Jasper. Jasper considered it for a moment. "You're on!"

**My temper flared now and I glared defiantly at him. **

"My hundred bucks!" Emmett cried gleefully. "My lovely dollars…" Jasper grumbled. "That'll teach you to make bets on me!" I scolded him.

**"There's nothing wrong with my head."**

**He glared back. "What do you want from me, Bella?"**

**"I want to know the truth," I said. "I want to know why I'm lying for you."**

"And why she lied so many other times for you," Rosalie added.

**"What do you think happened?" he snapped.**

**It came out in a rush.**

**"All I know is that you weren't anywhere near me — Tyler didn't see you, either, so don't tell me I hit my head too hard. That van was going to crush us both — and it didn't, and your hands left dents in the side of it — and you left a dent in the other car, and you're not hurt at all — and the van should have smashed my legs, but you were holding it up…" I could hear how crazy it sounded, and I couldn't continue. **

**I was so mad I could feel the tears coming; I tried to force them back by grinding my teeth together. He was staring at me incredulously. But his face was tense, defensive.**

**"You think I lifted a van off you?" His tone questioned my sanity, but it only made me more suspicious. It was like a perfectly delivered line by a skilled actor.**

"She summed you up perfectly, Edward," Alice chimed.

**I merely nodded once, jaw tight.**

**"Nobody will believe that, you know." His voice held an edge of derision now.**

**"I'm not going to tell anybody." I said each word slowly, carefully controlling my anger.**

**Surprise flitted across his face. "Then why does it matter?"**

**"It matters to me," I insisted. "I don't like to lie — so there'd better be a good reason why I'm doing it."**

**"Can't you just thank me and get over it?"**

**"Thank you." I waited, fuming and expectant.**

**"You're not going to let it go, are you?"**

"When does she ever let something go?"

**"No."**

**"In that case… I hope you enjoy disappointment."**

**We scowled at each other in silence. I was the first to speak, trying to keep myself focused. I was in danger of being distracted by his livid, glorious face. It was like trying to stare down a destroying angel.**

Jake howled in laughter. "A destroying angel…oh Bella.."

**"Why did you even bother?" I asked frigidly.**

**He paused, and for a brief moment his stunning face was unexpectedly vulnerable.**

**"I don't know," he whispered.**

**And then he turned his back on me and walked away.**

**I was so angry, it took me a few minutes until I could move. When I could walk, I made my way slowly to the exit at the end of the hallway.**

**The waiting room was more unpleasant than I'd feared. It seemed like every face I knew in Forks was there, staring at me. Charlie rushed to my side; I put up my hands.**

**"There's nothing wrong with me," I assured him sullenly. I was still aggravated, not in the mood for chitchat.**

**"What did the doctor say?"**

**"Dr. Cullen saw me, and he said I was fine and I could go home." I sighed. Mike and Jessica and Eric were all there, beginning to converge on us. "Let's go," I urged.**

**Charlie put one arm behind my back, not quite touching me, and led me to the glass doors of the exit. I waved sheepishly at my friends, hoping to convey that they didn't need to worry anymore. It was a huge relief— the first time I'd ever felt that way — to get into the cruiser.**

**We drove in silence. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I barely knew Charlie was there. I was positive that Edward's defensive behaviour in the hall was a confirmation of the bizarre things I still could hardly believe I'd witnessed.**

**When we got to the house, Charlie finally spoke.**

**"Um… you'll need to call Renée." He hung his head, guilty.**

**I was appalled. "You told Mom!"**

**"Sorry."**

**I slammed the cruiser's door a little harder than necessary on my way out.**

**My mom was in hysterics, of course. I had to tell her I felt fine at least thirty times before she would calm down. She begged me to come home — forgetting the fact that home was empty at the moment — but her pleas were easier to resist than I would have thought. I was consumed by the mystery Edward presented. And more than a little obsessed by Edward himself.**

_Please let it finish soon_, I begged.

**Stupid, stupid, stupid. **

**I wasn't as eager to escape Forks as I should be, as any normal, sane person would be.**

"Was Forks really that bad for you, Bella?" Alice asked. "Oh, Alice, just in the beginning."

**I decided I might as well go to bed early that night. Charlie continued to watch me anxiously, and it was getting on my nerves. I stopped on my way to grab three Tylenol from the bathroom. They did help, and, as the pain eased, I drifted to sleep.**

**That was the first night I dreamed of Edward Cullen.**

"Bella love, I'm honoured," Edward said, his trademark smirk in place. "This book is just going to bolster your huge ego even more, Edward," I muttered.

I was too embarrassed to look up and face anyone.

"Well, at least that's better than how you spend your nights now," Emmett smirked.

Thankfully, Renesmee didn't hear. I shot Emmett my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.

"I'll read next," Rosalie said, taking the book from Emmett.

**Invitations. **

_Please review, guys! It'll just take a minute! _


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews, it was really so encouraging, and made me want to start on the next chapter. _

_Happy reading!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga. _

*Bella POV*

"I'll read next," Rosalie said, taking the book from Emmett. She turned to the next chapter and read the chapter title out loud.

"**Invitations." **

**In my dream it was very dark, and what dim light there was seemed to be radiating from Edward's skin. I couldn't see his face, just his back as he walked away from me, leaving me in the blackness. No matter how fast I ran, I couldn't catch up to him; no matter how loud I called, he never turned. Troubled, I woke in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep again for what seemed like a very long time. After that, he was in my dreams nearly every night, but always on the periphery, never within reach.**

"What kind of a dream is that?" Jake asked. "It's weird."

**The month that followed the accident was uneasy, tense, and, at first, embarrassing.**

**To my dismay, I found myself the centre of attention for the rest of that week. Tyler Crowley was impossible, following me around, obsessed with making amends to me somehow. I tried to convince him what I wanted more than anything else was for him to forget all about it — especially since nothing had actually happened to me — but he remained insistent. He followed me between classes and sat at our now-crowded lunch table. Mike and Eric were even less friendly toward him than they were to each other, which made me worry that I'd gained another unwelcome fan.**

**No one seemed concerned about Edward, though I explained over and over that he was the hero — how he had pulled me out of the way and had nearly been crushed, too. **

"Why are you bent on making him the hero, Bella?" Emmett asked. "My dear brother had too much of a bloated ego as it is."

**I tried to be convincing. Jessica, Mike, Eric, and everyone else always commented that they hadn't even seen him there till the van was pulled away.**

**I wondered to myself why no one else had seen him standing so far away, before he was suddenly, impossibly saving my life. With chagrin, I realized the probable cause — no one else was as aware of Edward as I always was. No one else watched him the way I did. **

"Well, that's kind of sad," Emmett scoffed. "You're making it seem like poor Edward over here is some kind of homeless orphan."

**How pitiful.**

**Edward was never surrounded by crowds of curious bystanders eager for his first-hand account. People avoided him as usual. The Cullens and the Hales sat at the same table as always, not eating, talking only among themselves. None of them, especially Edward, glanced my way anymore.**

**When he sat next to me in class, as far from me as the table would allow, he seemed totally unaware of my presence. Only now and then, when his fists would suddenly ball up — skin stretched even whiter over the bones — did I wonder if he wasn't quite as oblivious as he appeared.**

"I could never be oblivious to you, Bella."

**He wished he hadn't pulled me from the path of Tyler's van — there was no other conclusion I could come to.**

"What?" nearly everyone in the room, with the exception of Edward, yelled. Rosalie looked up, shocked.

"Bella, he _fought _with us over that. He was prepared to leave us to protect you. How could you think that he regretted saving you?" Esme asked, surprise written over her face.

"I didn't know," I said softly. "I didn't understand why he hated me so."

"I loved you, Bella. Alice had a vision that I would either kill you or you would become like us. I wanted to avoid both. I thought the solution was to avoid you," Edward explained, gazing at me lovingly.

"Oh." I was surprised, but gave him a kiss, but showing him I understood.

**I wanted very much to talk to him, and the day after the accident I tried. The last time I'd seen him, outside the ER, we'd both been so furious. I still was angry that he wouldn't trust me with the truth, even though I was keeping my part of the bargain flawlessly. But he had in fact saved my life, no matter how he'd done it. And, overnight, the heat of my anger faded into awed gratitude.**

**He was already seated when I got to Biology, looking straight ahead. I sat down, expecting him to turn toward me. He showed no sign that he realized I was there.**

**"Hello, Edward," I said pleasantly, to show him I was going to behave myself. He turned his head a fraction toward me without meeting my gaze, nodded once, and then looked the other way.**

"Edward!" Esme scolded. "What did I say about politeness?" Edward looked abashed. "Sorry, Esme," he said softly.

**And that was the last contact I'd had with him, though he was there, a foot away from me, every day. I watched him sometimes, unable to stop myself— from a distance, though, in the cafeteria or parking lot. I watched as his golden eyes grew perceptibly darker day by day. **

"My _eyes_?" Edward asked, astonished. "Wow, Bella."

**But in class I gave no more notice that he existed than he showed toward me. I was miserable. And the dreams continued.**

**Despite my outright lies, the tenor of my e-mails alerted Renée to my depression, and she called a few times, worried. I tried to convince her it was just the weather that had me down.**

"Of course you won't tell her," Esme sighed, obviously unhappy that I kept all the pain bottled up.

**Mike, at least, was pleased by the obvious coolness between me and my lab partner. I could see he'd been worried that Edward's daring rescue might have impressed me, and he was relieved that it seemed to have the opposite effect. He grew more confident, sitting on the edge of my table to talk before Biology class started, ignoring Edward as completely as he ignored us.**

"Moron," Edward scowled.

**The snow washed away for good after that one dangerously icy day. Mike was disappointed he'd never gotten to stage his snowball fight, but pleased that the beach trip would soon be possible. The rain continued heavily, though, and the weeks passed.**

**Jessica made me aware of another event looming on the horizon — she called the first Tuesday of March to ask my permission to invite Mike to the girls' choice spring dance in two weeks.**

"Your _permission_?" Jake scoffed. "Do you have like, a claim on him, or something?"

**"Are you sure you don't mind… you weren't planning to ask him?" she persisted when I told her I didn't mind in the least.**

**"No, Jess, I'm not going," I assured her. Dancing was glaringly outside my range of abilities.**

All the Cullens, including Jake, grinned.

**"It will be really fun." Her attempt to convince me was half-hearted. I suspected that Jessica enjoyed my inexplicable popularity more than my actual company.**

"She did," Edward growled. "She was really jealous of you." I wasn't really surprised-I knew Jessica didn't really like me a lot.

**"You have fun with Mike," I encouraged.**

**The next day, I was surprised that Jessica wasn't her usual gushing self in Trig and Spanish. She was silent as she walked by my side between classes, and I was afraid to ask her why. If Mike had turned her down, I was the last person she would want to tell.**

**My fears were strengthened during lunch when Jessica sat as far from Mike as possible, chatting animatedly with Eric. Mike was unusually quiet.**

**Mike was still quiet as he walked me to class, the uncomfortable look on his face a bad sign. But he didn't broach the subject until I was in my seat and he was perched on my desk. As always, I was electrically aware of Edward sitting close enough to touch, as distant as if he were merely an invention of my imagination.**

**"So," Mike said, looking at the floor, "Jessica asked me to the spring dance."**

**"That's great." I made my voice bright and enthusiastic. "You'll have a lot of fun with Jessica."**

**"Well…" He floundered as he examined my smile, clearly not happy with my response.**

Edward grinned, no doubt remembering Mike's thoughts.

**"I told her I had to think about it."**

**"Why would you do that?" I let disapproval colour my tone, though I was relieved he hadn't given her an absolute no. **

"So that's why you were relieved," Edward sighed. "I was getting anxious that you might actually like Mike."

I scoffed.

"Me, like Mike? Are you kidding me?"

**His face was bright red as he looked down again. Pity shook my resolve.**

**"I was wondering if… well, if you might be planning to ask me."**

"You wish," I said harshly, getting very irritated. Edward smiled gleefully.

**I paused for a moment, hating the wave of guilt that swept through me. But I saw, from the corner of my eye, Edward's head tilt reflexively in my direction.**

"Edward is jealous…Edward is jealous… " Emmett sang and the rest of us scowled in his direction.

"Worst Song Ever," Rosalie mumbled. "For the love of God, please shut up, Emmett!"

Emmett pouted.

**"Mike, I think you should tell her yes," I said.**

**"Did you already ask someone?" Did Edward notice how Mike's eyes flickered in his direction?**

"I did."

**"No," I assured him. "I'm not going to the dance at all."**

**"Why not?" Mike demanded.**

"Demand?" Esme scowled. "That boy has no right to demand anything from you, Bella."

I smiled at my mother-in-law gratefully.

**I didn't want to get into the safety hazards that dancing presented, so I quickly made new plans.**

**"I'm going to Seattle that Saturday," I explained. I needed to get out of town anyway — it was suddenly the perfect time to go.**

**"Can't you go some other weekend?"**

"You want her to rearrange her plans just to go with you?" Alice shot a glare at the book.

**"Sorry, no," I said. "So you shouldn't make Jess wait any longer — it's rude."**

**"Yeah, you're right," he mumbled, and turned, dejected, to walk back to his seat. I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers to my temples, trying to push the guilt and sympathy out of my head. Mr Banner began talking. I sighed and opened my eyes.**

**And Edward was staring at me curiously, that same, familiar edge of frustration even more distinct now in his black eyes.**

**I stared back, surprised, expecting him to look quickly away. But instead he continued to gaze with probing intensity into my eyes. There was no question of me looking away. My hands started to shake. **

"The Edward Syndrome," Jake laughed. I thanked my lucky stars I was no longer able to blush.

**"Mr Cullen?" the teacher called, seeking the answer to a question that I hadn't heard.**

**"The Krebs Cycle," Edward answered, seeming reluctant as he turned to look at Mr Banner.**

**I looked down at my book as soon as his eyes released me, trying to find my place. Cowardly as ever, I shifted my hair over my right shoulder to hide my face. I couldn't believe the rush of emotion pulsing through me — just because he'd happened to look at me for the first time in a half-dozen weeks. I couldn't allow him to have this level of influence over me. **

"Trust me, Bella, you had way more influence over him," Rosalie commented.

**It was pathetic. More than pathetic, it was unhealthy.**

**I tried very hard not to be aware of him for the rest of the hour, and, since that was impossible, at least not to let him know that I was aware of him. When the bell rang at last, I turned my back to him to gather my things, expecting him to leave immediately as usual.**

**"Bella?" His voice shouldn't have been so familiar to me, as if I'd known the sound of it all my life rather than for just a few short weeks.**

**I turned slowly, unwillingly. I didn't want to feel what I knew I would feel when I looked at his too-perfect face. **

"My too-perfect face?" Edward smirked.

**My expression was wary when I finally turned to him; his expression was unreadable.**

**He didn't say anything.**

**"What? Are you speaking to me again?" I finally asked, an unintentional note of petulance in my voice.**

**His lips twitched, fighting a smile. "No, not really," he admitted.**

**I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly through my nose, aware that I was gritting my teeth. He waited.**

**"Then what do you want, Edward?" I asked, keeping my eyes closed; it was easier to talk to him coherently that way.**

"Yeah, I can't stand that smug look on his face, either," Emmett said.

**"I'm sorry." He sounded sincere. "I'm being very rude, I know. **

Esme scoffed. "That's an understatement."

**But it's better this way, really."**

**I opened my eyes. His face was very serious.**

**"I don't know what you mean," I said, my voice guarded.**

**"It's better if we're not friends," he explained. "Trust me."**

**My eyes narrowed. I'd heard that before.**

**"It's too bad you didn't figure that out earlier," I hissed through my teeth. "You could have saved yourself all this regret."**

**"Regret?" The word, and my tone, obviously caught him off guard. "Regret for what?"**

**"For not just letting that stupid van squish me."**

**He was astonished. He stared at me in disbelief.**

**When he finally spoke, he almost sounded mad. **

"I was mad."

**"You think I regret saving your life?"**

**"I know you do," I snapped.**

"I don't. It was the best decision I ever made," Edward smiled.

**"You don't know anything." He was definitely mad.**

**I turned my head sharply away from him, clenching my jaw against all the wild accusations I wanted to hurl at him. I gathered my books together, then stood and walked to the door. I meant to sweep dramatically out of the room-**

"Bet you she falls or drops something," Jake smiled. I mock punched him.

**-but of course I caught the toe of my boot on the door jamb and dropped my books. **

"See, Bella? I told you!"

**I stood there for a moment, thinking about leaving them. Then I sighed and bent to pick them up. He was there; he'd already stacked them into a pile. He handed them to me, his face hard.**

"When is it ever not?"

**"Thank you," I said icily.**

"You're just as bad, Mom," Ness said, frowning.

**His eyes narrowed.**

**"You're welcome," he retorted.**

**I straightened up swiftly, turned away from him again, and stalked off to Gym without looking back.**

**Gym was brutal. We'd moved on to basketball. My team never passed me the ball, so that was good, but I fell down a lot. Sometimes I took people with me. Today I was worse than usual because my head was so filled with Edward. **

"Her head is always filled with Edward," Emmett and Jasper said in unison.

**I tried to concentrate on my feet, but he kept creeping back into my thoughts just when I really needed my balance.**

I mock scowled at Edward, who smiled back, and squeezed my hand.

**It was a relief, as always, to leave. I almost ran to the truck; there were just so many people I wanted to avoid. The truck had suffered only minimal damage in the accident. **

"See? If I'd had one of your fancy Volvos or convertibles it would have been smashed to smithereens!" I spoke in defence of my truck.

Cue eye-rolls.

**I'd had to replace the taillights, and if I'd had a real paint job, I would have touched that up. Tyler's parents had to sell their van for parts.**

**I almost had a stroke when I rounded the corner and saw a tall, dark figure leaning against the side of my truck. Then I realized it was just Eric. I started walking again.**

**"Hey, Eric," I called.**

**"Hi, Bella."**

**"What's up?" I said as I was unlocking the door. I wasn't paying attention to the uncomfortable edge in his voice, so his next words took me by surprise.**

**"Uh, I was just wondering… if you would go to the spring dance with me?" His voice broke on the last word.**

**"I thought it was girls' choice," I said, too startled to be diplomatic.**

**"Well, yeah," he admitted, shamefaced.**

**I recovered my composure and tried to make my smile warm. "Thank you for asking me, but I'm going to be in Seattle that day."**

**"Oh," he said. "Well, maybe next time."**

**"Sure," I agreed, and then bit my lip. I wouldn't want him to take that too literally.**

"Definitely not," Edward scowled.

**He slouched off, back toward the school. I heard a low chuckle.**

"Trust you to find the joke in the worst times of my life," I said sarcastically.

**Edward was walking past the front of my truck, looking straight forward, his lips pressed together. I yanked the door open and jumped inside, slamming it loudly behind me. I revved the engine deafeningly and reversed out into the aisle. Edward was in his car already, two spaces down, sliding out smoothly in front of me, cutting me off. He stopped there — to wait for his family; I could see the four of them walking this way, but still by the cafeteria. **

**I considered taking out the rear of his shiny Volvo-**

Edward's mouth dropped open in shock, and Jake let out a sharp gasp of horror.

"It's just a car!" I said defensively.

"Just a car?" Jake and Edward cried, both of them probably going to start chewing me out but thankfully Rosalie continued reading and saved me.

**-but there were too many witnesses. I looked in my rear view mirror. A line was beginning to form. Directly behind me, Tyler Crowley was in his recently acquired used Sentra, waving. I was too aggravated to acknowledge him.**

**While I was sitting there, looking everywhere but at the car in front of me, I heard a knock on my passenger side window. I looked over; it was Tyler. I glanced back in my rear view mirror, confused. His car was still running, the door left open. I leaned across the cab to crank the window down. It was stiff. I got it halfway down, then gave up.**

**"I'm sorry, Tyler, I'm stuck behind Cullen." I was annoyed — obviously the holdup wasn't my fault.**

**"Oh, I know — I just wanted to ask you something while we're trapped here." He grinned.**

**This could not be happening.**

Renesmee laughed, and I noticed Jake looking at her adoringly. I had to stop myself from groaning in despair.

**"Will you ask me to the spring dance?" he continued.**

**"I'm not going to be in town, Tyler." My voice sounded a little sharp. I had to remember it wasn't his fault that Mike and Eric had already used up my quota of patience for the day.**

**"Yeah, Mike said that," he admitted.**

**"Then why —"**

**He shrugged. "I was hoping you were just letting him down easy."**

**Okay, it was completely his fault.**

**"Sorry, Tyler," I said, working to hide my irritation. "I really am going out of town."**

**"That's cool. We still have prom."**

**And before I could respond, he was walking back to his car. I could feel the shock on my face. I looked forward to see Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper all sliding into the Volvo. In his rear-view mirror, Edward's eyes were on me. He was unquestionably shaking with laughter, as if he'd heard every word Tyler had said.**

"I had. You should have seen your face…" Edward chuckled.

**My foot itched toward the gas pedal… one little bump wouldn't hurt any of them-**

"Even if you ran over the car, you wouldn't have hurt us," Emmett smiled. "Yeah, but can you imagine what would have happened if the humans had found us totally unhurt?" Rosalie said sharply.

Emmett's smile faded.

"Oh yeah…."

**-just that glossy silver paint job. **

**I revved the engine.**

"You were willing to hurt me, Bella?" Alice asked in dismay, a heart-breaking expression on her face.

"You're indestructible, Alice!"

"But you didn't know that then! You were fine with hurting me just to get back at Edward?"

I got up and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry, Alice. I'm so thankful I didn't, otherwise I wouldn't have had my best friend now."

That got me back into Alice's good books. She beamed at me.

**But they were all in, and Edward was speeding away. I drove home slowly, carefully, muttering to myself the whole way.**

**When I got home, I decided to make chicken enchiladas for dinner. It was a long process, and it would keep me busy. While I was simmering the onions and chilies, the phone rang. I was almost afraid to answer it, but it might be Charlie or my mom.**

**It was Jessica, and she was jubilant; Mike had caught her after school to accept her invitation. I celebrated with her briefly while I stirred. She had to go, she wanted to call Angela and Lauren to tell them. I suggested — with casual innocence — that maybe Angela, the shy girl who had Biology with me, could ask Eric. And Lauren, a standoffish girl who had always ignored me at the lunch table, could ask Tyler; I'd heard he was still available. Jess thought that was a great idea. **

**Now that she was sure of Mike, she actually sounded sincere when she said she wished I would go to the dance. I gave her my Seattle excuse.**

**After I hung up, I tried to concentrate on dinner — dicing the chicken especially; I didn't want to take another trip to the emergency room. But my head was spinning, trying to analyse every word Edward had spoken today.**

"Don't Bella. You'll drive yourself crazy," Jasper said seriously, and Edward gave him a death glare.

**What did he mean, it was better if we weren't friends? My stomach twisted as I realized what he must have meant. He must see how absorbed I was by him; he must not want to lead me on… so we couldn't even be friends… because he wasn't interested in me at all.**

"Oh Bella, I was! I was so desperately in love with you…I thought you would never see me the same way…" Edward said, his eyes widening in surprise and dismay.

"How could you be?" I asked softly, still unable to imagine how I had gotten this perfect Adonis.

**Of course he wasn't interested in me, I thought angrily, my eyes stinging — a delayed reaction to the onions. I wasn't interesting. And he was. Interesting… and brilliant… and mysterious… and perfect… and beautiful…**

"NOW WAIT JUST ONE SECOND!" Esme and Edward cried in unison. "What do you mean, "you're not interesting", Bella?" Esme asked, glaring. "I wasn't," I mumbled. "I was boring, human Bella, and Edward was this…perfect Greek god. Can you for one second just imagine how I saw myself beside him?" I cried.

"People just don't expect to see me there beside you."

Edward sighed. "Oh, Bella, I wish I had Nessie's gift, just so I could show you how _I _felt. You're being so completely ridiculous."

"That's behind us now," I said, smiling at him. "Let's move on."

**-and possibly able to lift full-sized vans with one hand.**

**Well, that was fine. I could leave him alone. I would leave him alone. I would get through my self-imposed sentence here in purgatory, and then hopefully some school in the Southwest, or possibly Hawaii, would offer me a scholarship. I focused my thoughts on sunny beaches and palm trees as I finished the enchiladas and put them in the oven.**

**Charlie seemed suspicious when he came home and smelled the green peppers. I couldn't blame him — the closest edible Mexican food was probably in southern California. But he was a cop, even if just a small-town cop, so he was brave enough to take the first bite. He seemed to like it. It was fun to watch as he slowly began trusting me in the kitchen.**

**"Dad?" I asked when he was almost done.**

**"Yeah, Bella?"**

**"Um, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to Seattle for the day a week from Saturday… if that's okay?" I didn't want to ask permission — it set a bad precedent — but I felt rude, so I tacked it on at the end.**

**"Why?" He sounded surprised, as if he were unable to imagine something that Forks couldn't offer.**

**"Well, I wanted to get few books — the library here is pretty limited — and maybe look at some clothes." I had more money than I was used to having, since, thanks to Charlie, I hadn't had to pay for a car. Not that the truck didn't cost me quite a bit in the gas department.**

"If you had just agreed to let me get you a car…"

**"That truck probably doesn't get very good gas mileage," he said, echoing my thoughts.**

**"I know, I'll stop in Montesano and Olympia — and Tacoma if I have to."**

**"Are you going all by yourself?" he asked, and I couldn't tell if he was suspicious I had a secret boyfriend-**

Emmett snickered.

**-or just worried about car trouble.**

**"Yes."**

**"Seattle is a big city — you could get lost," he fretted.**

**"Dad, Phoenix is five times the size of Seattle — and I can read a map, don't worry about it."**

**"Do you want me to come with you?"**

**I tried to be crafty as I hid my horror.**

**"That's all right, Dad, I'll probably just be in dressing rooms all day — very boring."**

**"Oh, okay." The thought of sitting in women's clothing stores for any period of time immediately put him off.**

**"Thanks." I smiled at him. "Will you be back in time for the dance?"**

**Grrr. Only in a town this small would a father know when the high school dances were.**

"And only in a town this small would vampires be able to hide."

**"No — I don't dance, Dad." He, of all people, should understand that — I didn't get my balance problems from my mother.**

**He did understand. "Oh, that's right," he realized.**

**The next morning, when I pulled into the parking lot, I deliberately parked as far as possible from the silver Volvo. I didn't want to put myself in the path of too much temptation and end up owing him a new car.**

"I still can't believe you wanted to trash my car…" Edward pouted like a five-year-old.

"Grow up, Edward," I rolled my eyes.

**Getting out of the cab, I fumbled with my key and it fell into a puddle at my feet. As I bent to get it, a white hand flashed out and grabbed it before I could. I jerked upright. Edward Cullen was right next to me, leaning casually against my truck.**

**"How do you do that?" I asked in amazed irritation.**

**"Do what?" He held my key out as he spoke. As I reached for it, he dropped it into my palm.**

**"Appear out of thin air."**

**"Bella, it's not my fault if you are exceptionally unobservant." His voice was quiet as usual — velvet, muted.**

**I scowled at his perfect face. **

"Can you stop it with the _perfect face_ descriptions, Bella? My brother over here is never going to let us live it down," Alice said, glaring at the smirk on Edward's face.

"Believe me Alice, I want to more than anything."

**His eyes were light again today, a deep, golden honey colour. **

"What is it with you and my eyes?" Edward asked in amazement.

**Then I had to look down, to reassemble my now-tangled thoughts.**

Edward snickered.

**"Why the traffic jam last night?" I demanded, still looking away. "I thought you were supposed to be pretending I don't exist-**

"BELLA!"

**-not irritating me to death."**

"I preferred the ignoring," I muttered.

**"That was for Tyler's sake, not mine. I had to give him his chance." He snickered.**

"Edward!" Alice glared at him. "How could you do that to poor Bella? I don't blame her for wanting to run you over!"

Unfortunately, all the praise my stupid book self had given him caused him to get a thick skin and a huge ego. He grinned annoyingly.

**"You…" I gasped. I couldn't think of a bad enough word. **

"What about bas-"

"EMMETT!" everyone shouted. "Renesmee's here," I growled at him.

Ness rolled her eyes. "Come on, Mom. It's not like I've never heard it for god's sake. I know loads of things, you know. Like about the bad words, and how babies are formed…"

Edward and I looked anywhere but at Jake.

**It felt like the heat of my anger should physically burn him, but he only seemed more amused.**

"Like the annoying git he is," Rosalie said.

**"And I'm not pretending you don't exist," he continued.**

**"So you are trying to irritate me to death? Since Tyler's van didn't do the job?"**

"FOR THE LAST TIME, I did NOT want you dead!"

**Anger flashed in his tawny eyes. His lips pressed into a hard line, all signs of humour gone.**

**"Bella, you are utterly absurd," he said-**

"Even my book self agrees with me."

**-his low voice cold.**

**My palms tingled — I wanted so badly to hit something. **

"It happens to the best of us," Alice sighed.

**I was surprised at myself. I was usually a nonviolent person.**

Jake scoffed.

**I turned my back and started to walk away.**

**"Wait," he called. I kept walking, sloshing angrily through the rain. But he was next to me, easily keeping pace.**

**"I'm sorry, that was rude-**

"Why don't you try not to be rude then?" Esme asked, looking pointedly at her son. "Better than apologizing for it all the time."

**-he said as we walked. I ignored him. "I'm not saying it isn't true," he continued, "but it was rude to say it, anyway."**

**"Why won't you leave me alone?" I grumbled.**

"Because I am wretchedly in love with you," Edward answered, smiling at me, and I felt my brain turn to mush.

**"I wanted to ask you something, but you side tracked me," he chuckled. He seemed to have recovered his good humour.**

**"Do you have a multiple personality disorder?" I asked severely.**

Emmett brightened. "I asked the same thing!"

**"You're doing it again."**

**I sighed. "Fine then. What do you want to ask?"**

**"I was wondering if, a week from Saturday — you know, the day of the spring dance —"**

"Are you trying to be funny?" Renesmee asked, shocked. She knew perfectly well now how much I had hated to dance.

**"Are you trying to be funny?"**

"Like mother, like daughter," Jake grinned, while the Cullens laughed. Ness blushed.

**I interrupted him, wheeling toward him. My face got drenched as I looked up at his expression.**

**His eyes were wickedly amused. "Will you please allow me to finish?"**

**I bit my lip and clasped my hands together, interlocking my fingers, so I couldn't do anything rash.**

"Or you would have ended up in the ER again."

**"I heard you say you were going to Seattle that day, and I was wondering if you wanted a ride."**

**That was unexpected.**

**"What?" I wasn't sure what he was getting at.**

**"Do you want a ride to Seattle?"**

**"With who?" I asked, mystified.**

**"Myself, obviously." He enunciated every syllable, as if he were talking to someone mentally handicapped.**

**I was still stunned. "Why?"**

**"Well, I was planning to go to Seattle in the next few weeks, and, to be honest, I'm not sure if your truck can make it."**

"My truck could have made it just fine," I huffed.

**"My truck works just fine, thank you very much for your concern." I started to walk again, but I was too surprised to maintain the same level of anger.**

**"But can your truck make it there on one tank of gas?" He matched my pace again.**

**"I don't see how that is any of your business." Stupid, shiny Volvo owner.**

There was an interlude while the entire Cullen family rolled on the floor laughing. I sat on the sofa crossing my arms and scowling at everything in sight.

Finally, Rosalie managed to compose herself to continue reading.

**"The wasting of finite resources is everyone's business."**

"Really lame," Ness and Jake said together, and then high-fived. Edward scowled at them, and I laughed.

**"Honestly, Edward." I felt a thrill go through me as I said his name-**

"Ditto."

**-and I hated it. **

Edward pouted.

**"I can't keep up with you. I thought you didn't want to be my friend."**

**"I said it would be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be."**

"That makes no sense. At all."

**"Oh, thanks, now that's all cleared up." Heavy sarcasm. I realized I had stopped walking again. We were under the shelter of the cafeteria roof now, so I could more easily look at his face. Which certainly didn't help my clarity of thought.**

Cue smirk.

**"It would be more… prudent for you not to be my friend," he explained. "But I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Bella." His eyes were gloriously intense as he uttered that last sentence, his voice smouldering. **

"_How _do you come up with stuff like this?" Jasper asked, disbelieving, while Edward looked as if someone had permanently painted a smug look on his face.

**I couldn't remember how to breathe.**

I couldn't look at Edward's face.

**"Will you go with me to Seattle?" he asked, still intense.**

"Yeah, like he hardly ever is."

**I couldn't speak yet, so I just nodded.**

**He smiled briefly, and then his face became serious.**

**"You really should stay away from me," he warned. "I'll see you in class."**

"What?!" Renesmee cried. "You're just contradicting yourself, Dad!" Edward smiled sheepishly.

**He turned abruptly and walked back the way we'd come.**

"That's the end of the chapter," Rosalie said, looking up. "Do you guys want to continue?"

"Actually, I'm kind of hungry…" Ness said reluctantly, and Esme immediately got up and started preparing food. "Well, why don't you and Jacob eat, and we'll continue reading? Saves time!" Emmett said.

Everyone looked at him.

"That is the smartest thing I have ever heard you say," Rosalie said, astonished.

Emmett pretended to be hurt, and Rose laughed, before giving him a hug.

Esme came back with two heaping plates of food, which Renesmee and Jake dove into with gusto.

I wrinkled my nose.

"So, who's next?" Rose asked, waving the book in the air. Jasper took it. "I'll read."

He turned to the next chapter.

"**Blood Type." **

_My first update for this fic in 2014! Happy new year, guys, and this is my new year's (very late) gift to you guys-another chapter! Do make it worthwhile, and please review and tell me your thoughts. _

_Suggestions are really appreciated! _

_Till next time! _


	5. Chapter 5

_26 reviews! I got 26 reviews! _

_Oops, sorry. _

_Hey everyone! All you lovely people who reviewed and encouraged me so much…thank you, it really means so much to me. And to repay you, I am posting a new chapter! _

_Also, I wish you guys a very happy 2014 ahead, filled with fun, love, and new chapters! :) _

_I am also going to try a new POV in this chapter, so tell me what you think of it. _

_Happy reading!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga. _

Chapter Five: Blood Type

*Jacob POV*

"I'll read," Jasper said and took the book from Blondie. "**Blood Type**", he read. I was still chowing down on my burger. Even after five years, I still couldn't understand how a vampire could cook so well.

**I made my way to English in a daze. I didn't even realize when I first walked in that class had already started.**

**"Thank you for joining us, Miss Swan," Mr Mason said in a disparaging tone.**

**I flushed and hurried to my seat.**

**It wasn't till class ended that I realized Mike wasn't sitting in his usual seat next to me. I felt a twinge of guilt. **

Edward grumbled. Any mention of Newton seemed to tick him off, and to be honest, I didn't really blame him. I had only met the kid once, but he had seemed like one of those Mummy's boy types.

Edward laughed, reading my thoughts.

**But he and Eric both met me at the door as usual, so I figured I wasn't totally unforgiven. Mike seemed to become more himself as we walked, gaining enthusiasm as he talked about the weather report for this weekend. The rain was supposed to take a minor break, and so maybe his beach trip would be possible. **

"Oh yeah!" I remembered the beach trip. "Isn't that where we see each other for the first time?" I asked. Bella nodded. "I think so," she said, smiling at me.

**I tried to sound eager, to make up for disappointing him yesterday. It was hard; rain or no rain, it would still only be in the high forties, if we were lucky.**

**The rest of the morning passed in a blur. It was difficult to believe that I hadn't just imagined what Edward had said, and the way his eyes had looked. Maybe it was just a very convincing dream that I'd confused with reality. That seemed more probable than that I really appealed to him on any level.**

Alice face palmed. "I am officially fed up with you, Bella," she grumbled.

**So I was impatient and frightened as Jessica and I entered the cafeteria. I wanted to see his face, to see if he'd gone back to the cold, indifferent person I'd known for the last several weeks. **

Edward winced.

**Or if, by some miracle, I'd really heard what I thought I'd heard this morning. Jessica babbled on and on about her dance plans — Lauren and Angela had asked the other boys and they were all going together — completely unaware of my inattention.**

**Disappointment flooded through me as my eyes unerringly focused on his table. The other four were there, but he was absent. Had he gone home? I followed the still-babbling Jessica through the line, crushed. I'd lost my appetite — I bought nothing but a bottle of lemonade. I just wanted to go sit down and sulk.**

"Really, Mom? Just because Dad isn't there?" Ness shook her head, and I noticed an expression of frustration on Edward's face. Renesmee had developed Bella's shield a few months ago, and now her mind was kept secret to him.

I was kind of disappointed, to be honest. I wanted to know if Renesmee started thinking differently about the imprinting, or if she was starting to have questions.

**"Edward Cullen is staring at you again-**

"You too, Dad?"

**-"Jessica said, finally breaking through my abstraction with his name. "I wonder why he's sitting alone today."**

**My head snapped up. I followed her gaze to see Edward, smiling crookedly, staring at me from an empty table across the cafeteria from where he usually sat. Once he'd caught my eye, he raised one hand and motioned with his index finger for me to join him. As I stared in disbelief, he winked. **

"Gross!" Renesmee yelled. "That's like flirting, Dad! It's disgusting!"

**"Does he mean you?" Jessica asked with insulting astonishment in her voice.**

"That girl is really starting to get on my last nerve," Esme frowned.

**"Maybe he needs help with his Biology homework," I-**

Edward looked hurt. "Me, need help with Biology homework? Are you kidding?"

Bella rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm sorry Mr I'm-So-Good-At-Everything. That was the only thing I could think of."

**-muttered for her benefit. "Um, I'd better go see what he wants."**

**I could feel her staring after me as I walked away.**

**When I reached his table, I stood behind the chair across from him, unsure.**

**"Why don't you sit with me today?" he asked, smiling.**

**I sat down automatically, watching him with caution. He was still smiling. It was hard to believe that someone so beautiful could be real. I was afraid that he might disappear in a sudden puff of smoke-**

"A puff of smoke?" Edward scoffed disbelievingly. "Is that the best you could come up with? Really, Bella?"

Bella smiled sheepishly.

**-and I would wake up.**

**He seemed to be waiting for me to say something. **

**"This is different," I finally managed.**

**"Well…" He paused, and then the rest of the words followed in a rush. "I decided as long as I was going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly."**

"Way to go, bro," Emmett reached over to clap Edward on the back.

**I waited for him to say something that made sense. The seconds ticked by.**

**"You know I don't have any idea what you mean," I eventually pointed out.**

**"I know." **

"Well, that's helpful," Renesmee and Alice scoffed at the same time, before smiling at each other.

**He smiled again, and then he changed the subject. "I think your friends are angry with me for stealing you."**

**"They'll survive." I could feel their stares boring into my back.**

**"I may not give you back, though-"**

"That sounded really wrong," Emmett and Jasper said together. Privately, I had to agree, and Edward scowled at us. Renesmee laughed, and I smiled.

**-he said with a wicked glint in his eyes.**

**I gulped.**

**He laughed. "You look worried."**

**"No," I said, but, ridiculously, my voice broke. "Surprised, actually… what brought all this on?"**

**"I told you — I got tired of trying to stay away from you. So I'm giving up." He was still smiling, but his ochre eyes-**

"Butter gold, burning gold, smouldering, amber, ochre…" Alice grumbled. "Bella here is on some kind of mission to make sure dear Edward over there gets as big a head as possible."

"I am not!"

**-were serious.**

**"Giving up?" I repeated in confusion.**

**"Yes — giving up trying to be good. I'm just going to do what I want now, and let the chips fall where they may." His smile faded as he explained, and a hard edge crept into his voice.**

**"You lost me again."**

**The breath-taking crooked smile reappeared.**

"There you go again."

**"I always say too much when I'm talking to you — that's one of the problems."**

**"Don't worry — I don't understand any of it," I said wryly.**

**"I'm counting on that. "So, in plain English, are we friends now?"**

**"Friends…" he mused, dubious.**

**"Or not," I muttered.**

**He grinned. "Well, we can try, I suppose. But I'm warning you now that I'm not a good friend for you."**

"Can you make up your mind, Dad?" Renesmee complained. "I can't imagine how poor Mom must have suffered."

Edward smiled at Bella. "I'm sorry about that, love."

**Behind his smile, the warning was real.**

**"You say that a lot," I noted, trying to ignore the sudden trembling in my stomach and keep my voice even.**

"The Edward Syndrome," I repeated, along with Emmett, before we high-fived.

Bella groaned. "Stop ganging up on me!"

**"Yes, because you're not listening to me. I'm still waiting for you to believe it. If you're smart, you'll avoid me."**

"Are you saying Mom's stupid?" Ness asked, frowning. "Yes," Bella growled. "This moron over here doesn't know how to word anything properly."

Edward smirked.

**"I think you've made your opinion on the subject of my intellect clear, too." **

"At least your book self says it in a nicer manner," Edward commented.

**My eyes narrowed.**

**He smiled apologetically.**

**"So, as long as I'm being… not smart, we'll try to be friends?" I struggled to sum up the confusing exchange.**

**"That sounds about right."**

**I looked down at my hands wrapped around the lemonade bottle, not sure what to do now.**

**"What are you thinking?" he asked curiously.**

**I looked up into his deep gold eyes-**

"Bella, I am warning you right now, if there is ONE MORE mention of Edward's eyes in this chapter, you and I are going to play Barbie Bella for a MONTH," Alice growled threateningly.

I saw Bella's eyes widen in horror, and I had to stifle my laugh. That was Bella's worse nightmare. She closed her eyes, probably praying that her book self wouldn't land her in deep trouble.

**-became befuddled, and, as usual, blurted out the truth.**

**"I'm trying to figure out what you are."**

**His jaw tightened, but he kept his smile in place with some effort.**

**"Are you having any luck with that?" he asked in an offhand tone.**

**"Not too much," I admitted.**

**He chuckled. "What are your theories?"**

**I blushed. I had been vacillating during the last month between Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker. **

Edward, Emmett and I howled in laughter. "Superheroes?" Jasper choked out while trying to stay composed enough that he could read. "Really Bella?"

Bella pouted.

**There was no way I was going to own up to that.**

"Unfortunately for you, we got this book," Edward said, still chuckling. "Stupid smug vampire," Bella mumbled.

**"Won't you tell me?" he asked, tilting his head to one side with a shockingly tempting smile.**

I scoffed. "Shockingly tempting smile…is there nothing about Edward that is _not _attractive?"

**I shook my head. "Too embarrassing."**

**"That's really frustrating, you know," he complained.**

**"No," I disagreed quickly, my eyes narrowing, "I can't imagine why that would be frustrating at all — just because someone refuses to tell you what they're thinking, even if all the while they're making cryptic little remarks specifically designed to keep you up at night wondering what they could possibly mean… now, why would that be frustrating?"**

"Yes, why would that be frustrating?" Renesmee asked, pretending to look confused, wide-eyed. "I mean, that is so cool! It's the most non-frustrating thing I can think of!"

Bella smiled at her daughter and Edward looked apologetic.

**He grimaced. "Or better," I continued, the pent-up annoyance flowing freely now, "say that person also did a wide range of bizarre things — from saving your life under impossible circumstances one day to treating you like a pariah the next, and he never explained any of that, either, even after he promised. That, also, would be very non-frustrating."**

"Go Bella!" Alice, Emmett and Rosalie cheered. Bella smiled and looked smug.

**"You've got a bit of a temper, don't you?"**

**"I don't like double standards."**

**We stared at each other, unsmiling.**

**He glanced over my shoulder, and then, unexpectedly, he snickered.**

**"What?"**

**"Your boyfriend-**

"He is NOT my boyfriend," Bella growled, and Edward smiled.

**-seems to think I'm being unpleasant to you — he's debating whether or not to come break up our fight." He snickered again.**

"I really don't see what's so funny about that," Bella grumbled.

**"I don't know who you're talking about," I said frostily. "But I'm sure you're wrong, anyway."**

**"I'm not. I told you, most people are easy to read."**

**"Except me, of course."**

**"Yes. Except for you." His mood shifted suddenly; his eyes turned brooding. "I wonder why that is."**

**I had to look away from the intensity of his stare. I concentrated on unscrewing the lid of my lemonade. I took a swig, staring at the table without seeing it.**

**"Aren't you hungry?" he asked, distracted.**

**"No." I didn't feel like mentioning that my stomach was already full — of butterflies. "You?" I looked at the empty table in front of him.**

**"No, I'm not hungry." I didn't understand his expression — it looked like he was enjoying some private joke.**

"Which I understand now," Bella smiled.

**"Can you do me a favor?" I asked after a second of hesitation.**

**He was suddenly wary. "That depends on what you want."**

**"It's not much," I assured him.**

**He waited, guarded but curious.**

**"I just wondered… if you could warn me beforehand the next time you decide to ignore me for my own good. **

"Yeah, I bet your mood swings gave Mom whiplash," Ness said.

**Just so I'm prepared." I looked at the lemonade bottle as I spoke, tracing the circle of the opening with my pinkie finger.**

**"That sounds fair." He was pressing his lips together to keep from laughing when I looked up.**

**"Thanks."**

**"Then can I have one answer in return?" he demanded.**

**"One." **

"Oh come on, even I know that Edward is just going to ask you to tell him a theory," Emmett said.

**"Tell me one theory."**

"Ha. I told you."

**Whoops. "Not that one."**

**"You didn't qualify, you just promised one answer," he reminded me.**

**"And you've broken promises yourself," I reminded him back.**

"Touché Bella," I laughed.

**"Just one theory — I won't laugh."**

**"Yes, you will." I was positive about that.**

**He looked down, and then glanced up at me through his long black lashes, his ochre eyes scorching.**

"CRAP!" Bella yelled. "It's Barbie Bella time!" the little pixie screeched. "You and I are going to Port Angeles tomorrow-they just opened this awesome shop, and the dresses there are amazing…"

Bella groaned. "She's going to kill me."

She glared at the book.

**"Please?" he breathed, leaning toward me.**

**I blinked, my mind going blank. Holy crow, how did he do that?**

"Yes, how _do _you do that?" Bella asked, frowning. Edward shrugged. "My amazing powers of charisma, I guess," he smirked.

**"Er, what?" I asked, dazed.**

**"Please tell me just one little theory." His eyes still smoldered at me.**

**"Um, well, bitten by a radioactive spider?" **

Everyone scoffed. "Superheroes? Really?" Emmett frowned. "I thought it was something better than that."

**Was he a hypnotist, too? Or was I just a hopeless pushover?**

**"That's not very creative," he scoffed.**

**"I'm sorry, that's all I've got," I said, miffed.**

**"You're not even close," he teased.**

**"No spiders?"**

**"Nope."**

**"And no radioactivity?"**

**"None."**

**"Dang," I sighed.**

**"Kryptonite doesn't bother me, either," he chuckled.**

**"You're not supposed to laugh, remember?"**

**He struggled to compose his face.**

**"I'll figure it out eventually," I warned him.**

**"I wish you wouldn't try." He was serious again.**

**"Because… ?"**

**"What if I'm not a superhero? What if I'm the bad guy?" He smiled playfully, but his eyes were impenetrable.**

**"Oh," I said, as several things he'd hinted fell suddenly into place. "I see." "Do you?" His face was abruptly severe, as if he were afraid that he'd accidentally said too much.**

**"You're dangerous?" **

"Finally," Edward rolled his eyes. "I thought you were never going to get it."

**I guessed, my pulse quickening as I intuitively realized the truth of my own words.**

**He was dangerous. He'd been trying to tell me that all along.**

"Yes."

**He just looked at me, eyes full of some emotion I couldn't comprehend.**

**"But not bad," I whispered, shaking my head. "No, I don't believe that you're bad."**

**"You're wrong." **

"You're not bad, Edward," everyone in the room said, as Renesmee and I nodded. "Of course, there had been a time when I had thought so…but not anymore.

"Unless you make a move on my daughter," Edward smirked, in a voice low enough that only I would hear.

I gulped.

**His voice was almost inaudible. He looked down, stealing my bottle lid and then spinning it on its side between his fingers. I stared at him, wondering why I didn't feel afraid. He meant what he was saying — that was obvious. But I just felt anxious, on edge… and, more than anything else, fascinated. The same way I always felt when I was near him.**

**The silence lasted until I noticed that the cafeteria was almost empty.**

**I jumped to my feet. "We're going to be late."**

**"I'm not going to class today," he said, twirling the lid so fast it was just a blur.**

**"Why not?"**

**"It's healthy to ditch class now and then." **

"To be precise, it's healthier for the humans if the vampires ditch blood typing," Alice corrected.

**He smiled up at me, but his eyes were still troubled.**

**"Well, I'm going," I told him. I was far too big a coward to risk getting caught.**

"Of course."

**He turned his attention back to his makeshift top. "I'll see you later, then."**

**I hesitated, torn, but then the first bell sent me hurrying out the door — with a last glance confirming that he hadn't moved a centimetre.**

**As I half-ran to class, my head was spinning faster than the bottle cap. So few questions had been answered in comparison to how many new questions had been raised. At least the rain had stopped.**

**I was lucky; Mr Banner wasn't in the room yet when I arrived. I settled quickly into my seat, aware that both Mike and Angela were staring at me. Mike looked resentful; Angela looked surprised, and slightly awed.**

**Mr Banner came in the room then, calling the class to order. He was juggling a few small cardboard boxes in his arms. He put them down on Mike's table, telling him to start passing them around the class.**

**"Okay, guys, I want you all to take one piece from each box," he said as he produced a pair of rubber gloves from the pocket of his lab jacket and pulled them on. The sharp sound as the gloves snapped into place against his wrists seemed ominous to me. "The first should be an indicator card," he went on, grabbing a white card with four squares marked on it and displaying it. "The second is a four-pronged applicator —" he held up something that looked like a nearly toothless hair pick "— and the third is a sterile micro-lancet." He held up a small piece of blue plastic and split it open. The barb was invisible from this distance, but my stomach flipped.**

**"I'll be coming around with a dropper of water to prepare your cards, so please don't start until I get to you." He began at Mike's table again, carefully putting one drop of water in each of the four squares.**

**"Then I want you to carefully prick your finger with the lancet…" He grabbed Mike's hand and jabbed the spike into the tip of Mike's middle finger. Oh no. **

"Oh no, indeed," Jasper muttered.

**Clammy moisture broke out across my forehead.**

**"Put a small drop of blood on each of the prongs." He demonstrated, squeezing Mike's finger till the blood flowed. **

The eyes of the eight vampires in the room suddenly darkened. Jasper leaned forward, his teeth bared.

**I swallowed convulsively-**

Bella swallowed, gripping her throat.

**-my stomach heaving.**

**"And then apply it to the card," he finished, holding up the dripping red card for us to see. I closed my eyes, trying to hear through the ringing in my ears.**

**"The Red Cross is having a blood drive in Port Angeles next weekend, so I thought you should all know your blood type." He sounded proud of himself. "Those of you who aren't eighteen yet will need a parent's permission — I have slips at my desk."**

**He continued through the room with his water drops. I put my cheek against the cool black table top and tried to hold on to my consciousness. All around me I could hear squeals, complaints, and giggles as my classmates skewered their fingers. I breathed slowly in and out through my mouth.**

**"Bella, are you all right?" Mr Banner asked. His voice was close to my head, and it sounded alarmed.**

**"I already know my blood type, Mr Banner," I said in a weak voice. I was afraid to raise my head.**

**"Are you feeling faint?"**

**"Yes, sir," I muttered, internally kicking myself for not ditching when I had the chance.**

**"Can someone take Bella to the nurse, please?" he called.**

**I didn't have to look up to know that it would be Mike who volunteered.**

**"Can you walk?" Mr Banner asked.**

**"Yes," I whispered. Just let me get out of here, I thought. I'll crawl.**

**Mike seemed eager as he put his arm around my waist-**

Edward growled, his eyes suddenly lightening. I guessed his jealously had snapped him out of his sudden thirst.

Everyone else seemed to snap out of it too, and Bella laughed at Edward's reaction.

"Well, at least Newton's good for _something_," Emmett joked.

**-and pulled my arm over his shoulder. I leaned against him heavily on the way out of the classroom.**

**Mike towed me slowly across campus. When we were around the edge of the cafeteria, out of sight of building four in case Mr Banner was watching, I stopped.**

**"Just let me sit for a minute, please?" I begged.**

**He helped me sit on the edge of the walk.**

**"And whatever you do, keep your hand in your pocket," I warned. I was still so dizzy. I slumped over on my side, putting my cheek against the freezing, damp cement of the sidewalk, closing my eyes. That seemed to help a little.**

**"Wow, you're green, Bella," Mike said nervously.**

**"Bella?" a different voice called from the distance.**

**No! Please let me be imagining that horribly familiar voice.**

Everyone chuckled.

**"What's wrong — is she hurt?" His voice was closer now, and he sounded upset. I wasn't imagining it. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping to die. Or, at the very least, not to throw up.**

**Mike seemed stressed. "I think she's fainted. I don't know what happened, she didn't even stick her finger."**

**"Bella." Edward's voice was right beside me, relieved now. "Can you hear me?" "No," I groaned. "Go away."**

Edward chuckled.

**He chuckled.**

"You don't change much, Dad," Renesmee laughed.

**"I was taking her to the nurse," Mike explained in a defensive tone, "but she wouldn't go any farther."**

**"I'll take her," Edward said. I could hear the smile still in his voice. "You can go back to class."**

**"No," Mike protested. "I'm supposed to do it."**

**Suddenly the sidewalk disappeared from beneath me. My eyes flew open in shock. Edward had scooped me up in his arms, as easily as if I weighed ten pounds instead of a hundred and ten.**

"To me it felt like you weighed nothing," Edward shrugged.

Bella punched him on the arm. "Stop boasting."

**"Put me down!" Please, please let me not vomit on him.**

"Please vomit on him!" Emmett and Jasper said together. Edward scowled at them.

"Can you imagine it?" Emmett said gleefully. "His jacket all covered in slime…and his hair all dirty…" He stared wistfully into the distance.

**He was walking before I was finished talking.**

**"Hey!" Mike called, already ten paces behind us.**

**Edward ignored him. "You look awful," he told me, grinning.**

**"Put me back on the sidewalk," I moaned. The rocking movement of his walk was not helping. He held me away from his body, gingerly, supporting all my weight with just his arms — it didn't seem to bother him.**

**"So you faint at the sight of blood?" he asked. **

"Pretty ironic, Bella."

**This seemed to entertain him.**

**I didn't answer. I closed my eyes again and fought the nausea with all my strength, clamping my lips together.**

**"And not even your own blood," he continued, enjoying himself.**

Bella glared at Edward.

**I don't know how he opened the door while carrying me, but it was suddenly warm, so I knew we were inside.**

**"Oh my," I heard a female voice gasp.**

**"She fainted in Biology," Edward explained.**

**I opened my eyes. I was in the office, and Edward was striding past the front counter toward the nurse's door. Ms Cope, the redheaded front office receptionist, ran ahead of him to hold it open. The grandmotherly nurse looked up from a novel, astonished, as Edward swung me into the room and placed me gently on the crackly paper that covered the brown vinyl mattress on the one cot. Then he moved to stand against the wall as far across the narrow room as possible. His eyes were bright, excited.**

Everyone looked quizzically at Edward, who smiled secretively.

**"She's just a little faint," he reassured the startled nurse. "They're blood typing in Biology."**

**The nurse nodded sagely. "There's always one."**

Everyone snickered, except Bella.

**He muffled a snicker.**

**"Just lie down for a minute, honey; it'll pass."**

**"I know," I sighed. The nausea was already fading.**

**"Does this happen a lot?" she asked.**

**"Sometimes," I admitted. Edward coughed to hide another laugh. **

Alice, Rosalie, Bella and Esme scowled at Edward who quickly held his hands up in surrender. _Wise move,_ I told Edward.

**"You can go back to class now," she told him.**

**"I'm supposed to stay with her." He said this with such assured authority that — even though she pursed her lips — the nurse didn't argue it further.**

**"I'll go get you some ice for your forehead, dear," she said to me, and then bustled out of the room.**

**"You were right," I moaned, letting my eyes close.**

**"I usually am — but about what in particular this time?"**

**"Ditching is healthy." I practiced breathing evenly.**

**"You scared me for a minute there," he admitted after a pause. His tone made it sound like he was confessing a humiliating weakness. "I thought Newton was dragging your dead body off to bury it in the woods."**

**"Ha ha." I still had my eyes closed, but I was feeling more normal every minute.**

**"Honestly — I've seen corpses with better colour. I was concerned that I might have to avenge your murder."**

**"Poor Mike. **

"Mike schmike," Edward growled.

Bella smiled.

**I'll bet he's mad."**

**"He absolutely loathes me," Edward said cheerfully.**

**"You can't know that," I argued, but then I wondered suddenly if he could.**

"Nothing escapes you," Carlisle marvelled.

**"I saw his face — I could tell."**

**"How did you see me? I thought you were ditching." I was almost fine now, though the queasiness would probably pass faster if I'd eaten something for lunch. On the other hand, maybe it was lucky my stomach was empty.**

**"I was in my car, listening to a CD." Such a normal response — it surprised me.**

"Yeah, it was much better than all the twisted and double-meaning responses you always gave."

**I heard the door and opened my eyes to see the nurse with a cold compress in her hand.**

**"Here you go, dear." She laid it across my forehead. "You're looking better," she added.**

**"I think I'm fine," I said, sitting up. Just a little ringing in my ears, no spinning. The mint green walls stayed where they should.**

**I could see she was about to make me lie back down, but the door opened just then, and Ms Cope stuck her head in.**

**"We've got another one," she warned.**

**I hopped down to free up the cot for the next invalid.**

**I handed the compress back to the nurse. "Here, I don't need this."**

**And then Mike staggered through the door, now supporting a sallow-looking Lee Stephens, another boy in our Biology class. Edward and I drew back against the wall to give them room.**

**"Oh no," Edward muttered. "Go out to the office, Bella." I looked up at him, bewildered.**

**"Trust me — go."**

**I spun and caught the door before it closed, darting out of the infirmary. I could feel Edward right behind me.**

**"You actually listened to me." He was stunned.**

**"I smelled the blood," I-**

"WHAT?" everyone said in unison. "You could smell blood even as a human?" Esme asked, looking stunned.

Bella gestured for Jasper to read. "The book will explain it," she said.

**-said, wrinkling my nose. Lee wasn't sick from watching other people, like me.**

**"People can't smell blood," he contradicted.**

**"Well, I can — that's what makes me sick. It smells like rust… and salt."**

The Cullens laughed.

"Not anymore, it doesn't," Bella corrected herself.

**He was staring at me with an unfathomable expression.**

**"What?" I asked.**

**"It's nothing."**

**Mike came through the door then, glancing from me to Edward. The look he gave Edward confirmed what Edward had said about loathing. He looked back at me, his eyes glum.**

**"You look better," he accused.**

**"Just keep your hand in your pocket," I warned him again.**

**"It's not bleeding anymore," he muttered. "Are you going back to class?"**

**"Are you kidding? I'd just have to turn around and come back."**

**"Yeah, I guess… So are you going this weekend? To the beach?" **

"Where I'll _finally _come in," I said. Bella smiled at me.

**While he spoke, he flashed another glare toward Edward, who was standing against the cluttered counter, motionless as a sculpture, staring off into space.**

**I tried to sound as friendly as possible. "Sure, I said I was in."**

**"We're meeting at my dad's store, at ten." His eyes flickered to Edward again, wondering if he was giving out too much information. His body language made it clear that it wasn't an open invitation.**

"Well, I couldn't have gone anyway, so…moot point," Edward shrugged. "He could have saved himself all that trouble."

**"I'll be there," I promised.**

**"I'll see you in Gym, then," he said, moving uncertainly toward the door.**

**"See you," I replied. He looked at me once more, his round face slightly pouting, and then as he walked slowly through the door, his shoulders slumped. A swell of sympathy washed over me. **

"Not anymore! I swear!"

**I pondered seeing his disappointed face again… in Gym.**

**"Gym," I groaned.**

Everyone laughed.

**"I can take care of that." I hadn't noticed Edward moving to my side, but he spoke now in my ear. "Go sit down and look pale," he muttered.**

"WHAT?" Ness looked shocked.

"You ditched school? You're a bad influence, Dad!"

Edward looked flustered, and I smirked.

**That wasn't a challenge; I was always pale, and my recent swoon had left a light sheen of sweat on my face. I sat in one of the creaky folding chairs and rested my head against the wall with my eyes closed. Fainting spells always exhausted me.**

**I heard Edward speaking softly at the counter.**

**"Ms Cope?"**

**"Yes?" I hadn't heard her return to her desk.**

**"Bella has Gym next hour, and I don't think she feels well enough. Actually, I was thinking I should take her home now. Do you think you could excuse her from class?" His voice was like melting honey. **

"How does melting honey sound like Edward's voice?" Alice asked. "It doesn't even have a sound!"

Bella shrugged.

**I could imagine how much more overwhelming his eyes would be.**

Edward smirked.

**"Do you need to be excused, too, Edward?" Ms Cope fluttered. Why couldn't I do that?**

"You didn't need to," Edward smiled.

**"No, I have Mrs Goff, she won't mind."**

**"Okay, it's all taken care of. You feel better, Bella," she called to me. I nodded weakly, hamming it up just a bit.**

**"Can you walk, or do you want me to carry you again?" With his back to the receptionist, his expression became sarcastic.**

**"I'll walk."**

**I stood carefully, and I was still fine. He held the door for me, his smile polite but his eyes mocking. I walked out into the cold, fine mist that had just begun to fall. It felt nice — the first time I'd enjoyed the constant moisture falling out of the sky — as it washed my face clean of the sticky perspiration.**

**"Thanks," I said as he followed me out. "It's almost worth getting sick to miss Gym."**

**"Anytime." He was staring straight forward, squinting into the rain.**

**"So are you going? This Saturday, I mean?" I was hoping he would, though it seemed unlikely. I couldn't picture him loading up to carpool with the rest of the kids from school; **

Emmett snickered. "Him, carpool?"

**-he didn't belong in the same world. But just hoping that he might gave me the first twinge of enthusiasm I'd felt for the outing.**

**"Where are you all going, exactly?" He was still looking ahead, expressionless.**

**"Down to La Push, to First Beach." **

Renesmee's eyes brightened.

**I studied his face, trying to read it. His eyes seemed to narrow infinitesimally.**

**He glanced down at me from the corner of his eye, smiling wryly. "I really don't think I was invited."**

**I sighed. "I just invited you."**

**"Let's you and I not push poor Mike any further this week. We don't want him to snap." **

Everyone else laughed as Bella and Edward smirked.

**His eyes danced; he was enjoying the idea more than he should.**

**"Mike-schmike." **

"You and Dad are like perfectly synchronised," Ness laughed.

**I muttered, preoccupied by the way he'd said "you and I." I liked it more than I should.**

"So did I."

**We were near the parking lot now. I veered left, toward my truck. Something caught my jacket, yanking me back.**

**"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, outraged. He was gripping a fistful of my jacket in one hand. I was confused. "I'm going home."**

**"Didn't you hear me promise to take you safely home? Do you think I'm going to let you drive in your condition?" His voice was still indignant.**

**"What condition? And what about my truck?" I complained.**

**"I'll have Alice drop it off after school." He was towing me toward his car now, pulling me by my jacket.**

**It was all I could do to keep from falling backward. He'd probably just drag me along anyway if I did.**

"Yep."

**"Let go!" I insisted. He ignored me. I staggered along sideways across the wet sidewalk until we reached the Volvo. Then he finally freed me — I stumbled against the passenger door.**

**"You are so pushy!" I grumbled.**

"I know," everyone said immediately.

Edward pouted.

Ness and Bella face-palmed.

**"It's open," was all he responded. He got in the driver's side.**

**"I am perfectly capable of driving myself home!" I stood by the car, fuming. It was raining harder now, and I'd never put my hood up, so my hair was dripping down my back.**

**He lowered the automatic window and leaned toward me across the seat. "Get in, Bella."**

**I didn't answer. I was mentally calculating my chances of reaching the truck before he could catch me.**

Edward scoffed. "Please."

**I had to admit, they weren't good.**

**"I'll just drag you back," he threatened, guessing my plan.**

**I tried to maintain what dignity I could as I got into his car. I wasn't very successful — I looked like a half-drowned cat-**

"No, you looked beautiful," Edward murmured and Bella gave him a kiss.

Renesmee pretended to throw up. She caught my eye and we both laughed.

**-and my boots squeaked.**

**"This is completely unnecessary," I said stiffly.**

**He didn't answer. He fiddled with the controls, turning the heater up and the music down. As he pulled out of the parking lot, I was preparing to give him the silent treatment — my face in full pout mode —**

"Oh come on. Everyone knows you're not going to resist the temptation to talk to Edward," Blondie said.

**but then I recognized the music playing, and my curiosity got the better of my intentions.**

**"Clair de Lune?" I asked, surprised.**

**"You know Debussy?" He sounded surprised, too.**

**"Not well," I admitted. "My mother plays a lot of classical music around the house — I only know my favourites."**

**"It's one of my favourites, too." **

The couple in question smiled at each other.

**He stared out through the rain, lost in thought.**

**I listened to the music, relaxing against the light grey leather seat. It was impossible not to respond to the familiar, soothing melody. The rain blurred everything outside the window into grey and green smudges. I began to realize we were driving very fast; the car moved so steadily, so evenly, though, I didn't feel the speed. Only the town flashing by gave it away.**

**"What is your mother like?" he asked me suddenly.**

Bella smiled at the thought of Renee. She had tried so very hard to distance herself from her mother, but after Renee had come to see her for Christmas, without warning, she had made the same deal with Renee as she had made with Charlie.

And she was much happier for it.

**I glanced over to see him studying me with curious eyes.**

**"She looks a lot like me, but she's prettier," I said. **

Edward wisely didn't say anything.

**He raised his eyebrows. "I have too much Charlie in me. She's more outgoing than I am, and braver. She's irresponsible and slightly eccentric, and she's a very unpredictable cook. She's my best friend."**

Ness smiled. She adored her grandmother, and vice versa.

**I stopped. Talking about her was making me depressed.**

**"How old are you, Bella?" His voice sounded frustrated for some reason I couldn't imagine. He'd stopped the car, and I realized we were at Charlie's house already. The rain was so heavy that I could barely see the house at all. It was like the car was submerged under a river.**

**"I'm seventeen," I responded, a little confused.**

**"You don't seem seventeen."**

Bella caught my eye, and we laughed, remembering how we had contested for the oldest.

"I still won," I reminded her, grinning.

Cue eye-roll.

**His tone was reproachful; it made me laugh.**

**"What?" he asked, curious again.**

**"My mom always says I was born thirty-five years old and that I get more middle-aged every year."**

"Definitely true."

**I laughed, and then sighed. "Well, someone has to be the adult." I paused for a second. "You don't seem much like a junior in high school yourself," I noted.**

**He made a face and changed the subject.**

**"So why did your mother marry Phil?"**

**I was surprised he would remember the name; I'd mentioned it just once, almost two months ago.**

"I remember everything about you."

**It took me a moment to answer.**

**"My mother… she's very young for her age. I think Phil makes her feel even younger. At any rate, she's crazy about him." I shook my head. The attraction was a mystery to me.**

**"Do you approve?" he asked.**

**"Does it matter?" I countered. "I want her to be happy… and he is who she wants."**

Bella smiled at how her life had turned out the same way.

**"That's very generous… I wonder," he mused.**

**"What?"**

**"Would she extend the same courtesy to you, do you think? No matter who your choice was?" He was suddenly intent, his eyes searching mine.**

"Well, at least she adores you," Bella laughed.

**"I-I think so," I stuttered. "But she's the parent, after all. It's a little bit different."**

**"No one too scary then," he teased.**

"I doubt it," Emmett teased. "If she only knew…"

**I grinned in response. "What do you mean by scary? Multiple facial piercings and extensive tattoos?"**

**"That's one definition, I suppose."**

**"What's your definition?"**

**But he ignored my question and asked me another. "Do you think that I could be scary?" **

No one said anything.

Bella looked embarrassed.

**He raised one eyebrow, and the faint trace of a smile lightened his face.**

**I thought for a moment, wondering whether the truth or a lie would go over better. I decided to go with the truth. "Hmmm… I think you could be, if you wanted to." "Are you frightened of me now?" The smile vanished, and his heavenly face was suddenly serious.**

**"No." But I answered too quickly. The smile returned.**

**"So, now are you going to tell me about your family?" I asked to distract him. "It's got to be a much more interesting story than mine."**

**He was instantly cautious. "What do you want to know?"**

**"The Cullens adopted you?" I verified.**

**"Yes."**

**I hesitated for a moment. "What happened to your parents?"**

**"They died many years ago." **

"Many, many years ago."

**His tone was matter-of-fact.**

**"I'm sorry," I mumbled.**

**"I don't really remember them that clearly. Carlisle and Esme have been my parents for a long time now."**

**"And you love them." It wasn't a question. It was obvious in the way he spoke of them.**

**"Yes." He smiled. "I couldn't imagine two better people."**

The two smiled at their son. I had to agree with them on that. Even as a vampire, Esme was like the mother I had lost so early in life. She had helped fill the void my mother left behind.

**"You're very lucky."**

"Yes," all the Cullen siblings said.

**"I know I am."**

**"And your brother and sister?"**

**He glanced at the clock on the dashboard.**

**"My brother and sister, and Jasper and Rosalie for that matter, are going to be quite upset if they have to stand in the rain waiting for me."**

"Thanks for remembering us," Emmett snorted.

**"Oh, sorry, I guess you have to go." I didn't want to get out of the car.**

"I didn't want you to either."

**"And you probably want your truck back before Chief Swan gets home, so you don't have to tell him about the Biology incident." He grinned at me.**

**"I'm sure he's already heard. There are no secrets in Forks." I sighed.**

**He laughed, and there was an edge to his laughter.**

**"Have fun at the beach… good weather for sunbathing." He glanced out at the sheeting rain.**

"Riiiight."

**"Won't I see you tomorrow?"**

**"No. Emmett and I are starting the weekend early."**

Emmett grinned.

**"What are you going to do?" A friend could ask that, right? I hoped the disappointment wasn't too apparent in my voice.**

"It was."

Bella pouted.

**"We're going to be hiking in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, just south of Rainier."**

Emmett started drooling. "Those lovely bears…"

Cue eye-rolls.

**I remembered Charlie had said the Cullens went camping frequently. "Oh, well, have fun." I tried to sound enthusiastic. I don't think I fooled him, though. **

"Yeah. You can fool no-one."

Bella smacked Edward hard.

**A smile was playing around the edges of his lips.**

**"Will you do something for me this weekend?" He turned to look me straight in the face, utilizing the full power of his burning gold eyes.**

"The way you're saying it makes it seem like his eyes are some kind of nuclear reactor. Full power…" Blondie snickered.

**I nodded helplessly.**

"Well, they seem to work."

**"Don't be offended, but you seem to be one of those people who just attract accidents like a magnet. So… try not to fall into the ocean or get run over or anything, all right?" He smiled crookedly.**

Bella huffed.

**The helplessness had faded as he spoke. I glared at him.**

Like she was now.

**"I'll see what I can do," I snapped as I jumped out into the rain. I slammed the door behind me with excessive force.**

I winced. That lovely Volvo…

**He was still smiling as he drove away.**

"Moron."

"You know you love me," Edward smirked.

"Unfortunately, I do," Bella sighed, pretending like some great misfortune had befallen her.

The two of them laughed and Alice took the book.

"I'll read! I'll read!" she chirped excitedly.

She read the title of the next chapter.

"**Scary Stories."**

_27 reviews! For four chapters! Thanks, guys! I'll try to update again as soon as possible. _

_In the meantime, keep those reviews coming! _

_Till next time! _


	6. Chapter 6

_Hey guys! Thank you so much for not giving up on me, even though I haven't updated for a bit. Thanks to all those people who reviewed to give me your support, followed and favourited. It's really appreciated. I'd just like to apologize for absences, it's just that now school has started, I don't really have as much free time as I did in the holidays; which means I can no longer write as much as I want to. _

_Sorry!_

_And here's the next chapter!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga. _

Chapter Six: Scary Stories

*Renesmee POV*

Aunt Alice looked excited as she took the book from Uncle Jasper. She turned it to the next page and read out the chapter title.

**Scary Stories. **

My mom looked a little nervous, but I was excited. This was the chapter my mom met Jacob. I had to admit, I was more than a little curious about their friendship, especially since now, I was getting confused as to what exactly Jacob was to me.

I turned my attention to my aunt as she started reading.

**As I sat in my room, trying to concentrate on the third act of Macbeth-**

Jake looked horrified.

"You actually read that thing for fun? It bored the hell out of me!"

Mom rolled her eyes at Jake. "Some of us actually _appreciate_ the classics."

I laughed.

**-I was really listening for my truck. I would have thought, even over the pounding rain, I could have heard the engine's roar. But when I went to peek out the curtain — again — it was suddenly there.**

**I wasn't looking forward to Friday, and it more than lived up to my non-expectations. Of course there were the fainting comments. Jessica especially seemed to get a kick out of that story. **

Everyone glared at the book.

I didn't like this Jessica. She had been so mean to Mom.

**Luckily Mike had kept his mouth shut, and no one seemed to know about Edward's involvement. She did have a lot of questions about lunch, though.**

**"So what did Edward Cullen want yesterday?" Jessica asked in Trig.**

**"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "He never really got to the point."**

"When does he ever get to the point?"

"Hey!"

I rolled my eyes at Dad and Uncle Emmett arguing like little kids.

**"You looked kind of mad," she fished.**

**"Did I?" I kept my expression blank.**

**"You know, I've never seen him sit with anyone but his family before. That was weird."**

**"Weird," I agreed. She seemed annoyed; she flipped her dark curls impatiently — I guessed she'd been hoping to hear something that would make a good story for her to pass on.**

**The worst part about Friday was that, even though I knew he wasn't going to be there, I still hoped.**

Dad smiled.

Everyone groaned.

**When I walked into the cafeteria with Jessica and Mike, I couldn't keep from looking at his table, where Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper sat talking, heads close together. And I couldn't stop the gloom that engulfed me as I realized I didn't know how long I would have to wait before I saw him again.**

Mom stared daggers at the book in Alice's hands.

Dad looked smug. As usual.

**At my usual table, everyone was full of our plans for the next day. Mike was animated again, putting a great deal of trust in the local weatherman who promised sun tomorrow. I'd have to see that before I believed it. But it was warmer today — almost sixty. Maybe the outing wouldn't be completely miserable. I intercepted a few unfriendly glances from Lauren during lunch, which I didn't understand until we were all walking out of the room together. I was right behind her, just a foot from her slick, silver blond hair, and she was evidently unaware of that.**

**"…don't know why Bella" — she sneered my name — "doesn't just sit with the Cullens from now on."**

"Someone's jealous…" Aunt Alice sang.

"She's never liked me," Mom shrugged.

**I heard her muttering to Mike. I'd never noticed what an unpleasant, nasal voice she had, and I was surprised by the malice in it. I really didn't know her well at all, certainly not well enough for her to dislike me — or so I'd thought. "She's my friend; she sits with us," Mike whispered back loyally-**

"Well, he's good for something," Jake shrugged. Dad glowered.

**-but also a bit territorially. **

"You probably shouldn't have jinxed it, Jake!" Mom laughed.

Dad was on a rant.

"Territorially? How dare he, the stupid little-"

Mom face-palmed.

**I paused to let Jess and Angela pass me. I didn't want to hear any more.**

**That night at dinner, Charlie seemed enthusiastic about my trip to La Push in the morning. I think he felt guilty for leaving me home alone on the weekends, but he'd spent too many years building his habits to break them now. Of course he knew the names of all the kids going, and their parents, and their great-grandparents, too, probably. He seemed to approve. I wondered if he would approve of my plan to ride to Seattle with Edward Cullen. **

Everyone snorted.

**Not that I was going to tell him.**

"Hey!" Uncle Emmett complained.

"What? Did you really think I was gonna tell Charlie?" Mom said. Dad quickly elbowed her and gestured at me.

"Oh-I mean-Ness you're not allowed to do what I did."

"Mom!" I protested. "That's not fair!"

"Okay, you guys finish the argument later! Let's read the book now, please?" Jake quickly broke up the budding argument.

**"Dad, do you know a place called Goat Rocks or something like that? I think it's south of Mount Rainier," I asked casually.**

**"Yeah — why?"**

**I shrugged. "Some kids were talking about camping there."**

**"It's not a very good place for camping." He sounded surprised. "Too many bears. **

Emmett salivated.

Rosalie face-palmed. "Why did I ever get married to this moron?"

Emmett pouted.

**Most people go there during the hunting season."**

**"Oh," I murmured. "Maybe I got the name wrong."**

**I meant to sleep in, but an unusual brightness woke me. I opened my eyes to see a clear yellow light streaming through my window. I couldn't believe it. I hurried to the window to check, and sure enough, there was the sun. It was in the wrong place in the sky, too low, and it didn't seem to be as close as it should be, but it was definitely the sun. Clouds ringed the horizon, but a large patch of blue was visible in the middle. I lingered by the window as long as I could, afraid that if I left the blue would disappear again.**

Everyone laughed.

"Stupid book."

**The Newtons' Olympic Outfitters store was just north of town. I'd seen the store, but I'd never stopped there — not having much need for any supplies required for being outdoors over an extended period of time. In the parking lot I recognized Mike's Suburban and Tyler's Sentra. As I pulled up next to their vehicles, I could see the group standing around in front of the Suburban. Eric was there, along with two other boys I had class with; I was fairly sure their names were Ben and Conner. Jess was there, flanked by Angela and Lauren. Three other girls stood with them, including one I remembered falling over in Gym on Friday. That one gave me a dirty look as I got out of the truck, and whispered something to Lauren.**

**Lauren shook out her corn-silk hair and eyed me scornfully. **

"Why were they all so mean to you, Mom?" I asked.

"They were jealous of me, honey. Some people are petty like that."

**So it was going to be one of those days.**

**At least Mike was happy to see me.**

I nearly burst out laughing at the look on Dad's face. He looked like he was going to spontaneously combust.

Mom whispered something in his ear, and he calmed down. They smiled at each other.

I averted my eyes. Ugh.

**"You came!" he called, delighted. "And I said it would be sunny today, didn't I?"**

**"I told you I was coming," I reminded him. "We're just waiting for Lee and Samantha… unless you invited someone," Mike added.**

**"Nope," I lied lightly, hoping I wouldn't get caught in the lie. But also wishing that a miracle would occur, and Edward would appear.**

"Ha! Take that, Newton!" Dad yelled.

Mom and I rolled our eyes at each other.

**Mike looked satisfied.**

**"Will you ride in my car? It's that or Lee's mom's minivan."**

**"Sure."**

"Bella!"

"Sorry!"

**He smiled blissfully. It was so easy to make Mike happy.**

"You shouldn't have to make him happy, Bella," Dad growled.

**"You can have shotgun," he promised. I hid my chagrin. It wasn't as simple to make Mike and Jessica happy at the same time. I could see Jessica glowering at us now.**

**The numbers worked out in my favor, though. Lee brought two extra people, and suddenly every seat was necessary. I managed to wedge Jess in between Mike and me in the front seat of the Suburban.**

**Mike could have been more graceful about it, but at least Jess seemed appeased.**

**It was only fifteen miles to La Push from Forks, with gorgeous, dense green forests edging the road most of the way and the wide Quileute River snaking beneath it twice. I was glad I had the window seat.**

**We'd rolled the windows down — the Suburban was a bit claustrophobic with nine people in it — and I tried to absorb as much sunlight as possible.**

**I'd been to the beaches around La Push many times during my Forks summers with Charlie, so the mile-long crescent of First Beach was familiar to me. It was still breath-taking.**

Jake smiled.

I smiled too. I loved the La Push beach.

**The water was dark grey, even in the sunlight, white-capped and heaving to the grey, rocky shore. Islands rose out of the steel harbour waters with sheer cliff sides, reaching to uneven summits, and crowned with austere, soaring firs.**

"That's La Push all right," Jake grinned, and he and Mom smiled at each other. I knew they had been best friends, and Mom had gone to visit him at La Push loads of times.

**The beach had only a thin border of actual sand at the water's edge, after which it grew into millions of large, smooth stones that looked uniformly grey from a distance, but close up were every shade a stone could be: terra-cotta, sea green, lavender, blue grey, dull gold. The tide line was strewn with huge driftwood trees, bleached bone white in the salt waves, some piled together against the edge of the forest fringe, some lying solitary, just out of reach of the waves.**

**There was a brisk wind coming off the waves, cool and briny. Pelicans floated on the swells while seagulls and a lone eagle wheeled above them. The clouds still circled the sky, threatening to invade at any moment, but for now the sun shone bravely in its halo of blue sky.**

**We picked our way down to the beach, Mike leading the way to a ring of driftwood logs that had obviously been used for parties like ours before. There was a fire circle already in place, filled with black ashes. Eric and the boy I thought was named Ben gathered broken branches of driftwood from the drier piles against the forest edge, and soon had a tepee-shaped construction built atop the old cinders.**

**"Have you ever seen a driftwood fire?" Mike asked me. I was sitting on one of the bone-coloured benches; the other girls clustered, gossiping excitedly, on either side of me. Mike kneeled by the fire, lighting one of the smaller sticks with a cigarette lighter.**

**"No," I said as he placed the blazing twig carefully against the tepee.**

**"You'll like this then — watch the colours." He lit another small branch and laid it alongside the first. The flames started to lick quickly up the dry wood.**

**"It's blue," I said in surprise. "The salt does it. Pretty, isn't it?" He lit one more piece, placed it where the fire hadn't yet caught, and then came to sit by me. Thankfully, Jess was on his other side. She turned to him and claimed his attention. **

Dad smiled smugly.

**I watched the strange blue and green flames crackle toward the sky.**

**After a half hour of chatter, some of the boys wanted to hike to the nearby tidal pools. **

My eyes brightened. I loved walking on the tide pools and even sitting in them. Jake had taken me home many times with my clothes wet and sopping.

**It was a dilemma.**

**On the one hand, I loved the tide pools. They had fascinated me since I was a child; they were one of the only things I ever looked forward to when I had to come to Forks. On the other hand, I'd also fallen into them a lot.**

Everyone snickered.

Mom groaned.

**Not a big deal when you're seven and with your dad. It reminded me of Edward's request — that I not fall into the ocean.**

We laughed.

Mom pouted.

**Lauren was the one who made my decision for me. She didn't want to hike, and she was definitely wearing the wrong shoes for it. Most of the other girls besides Angela and Jessica decided to stay on the beach as well. I waited until Tyler and Eric had committed to remaining with them before I got up quietly to join the pro-hiking group. Mike gave me a huge smile when he saw that I was coming.**

Dad's smile vanished.

**The hike wasn't too long, though I hated to lose the sky in the woods. The green light of the forest was strangely at odds with the adolescent laughter, too murky and ominous to be in harmony with the light banter around me. I had to watch each step I took very carefully, avoiding roots below and branches above, and I soon fell behind. Eventually I broke through the emerald confines of the forest and found the rocky shore again. It was low tide, and a tidal river flowed past us on its way to the sea. Along its pebbled banks, shallow pools that never completely drained were teeming with life.**

**I was very cautious not to lean too far over the little ocean ponds. The others were fearless, leaping over the rocks, perching precariously on the edges. I found a very stable-looking rock on the fringe of one of the largest pools and sat there cautiously, spellbound by the natural aquarium below me. The bouquets of brilliant anemones undulated ceaselessly in the invisible current, twisted shells scurried about the edges, obscuring the crabs within them, starfish stuck motionless to the rocks and each other, while one small black eel with white racing stripes wove through the bright green weeds, waiting for the sea to return. **

"Jake," I whispered to him. "Can we go there later?"

"Of course, Ness," he smiled back at me, and my heart did a flutter. I'd noticed lately how good-looking he was-tall, with dark messy hair and deep brown eyes-

I stopped myself, shocked. Jake was like my brother. I shouldn't be having thoughts like this about him.

I tried my damnedest not to blush, and thanked my lucky stars that I had inherited Mom's shield. I did NOT need my dad hearing all this.

**I was completely absorbed, except for one small part of my mind that wondered what Edward was doing now, and trying to imagine what he would be saying if he were here with me.**

"I'd be saying how beautiful you looked," Dad whispered. Mom leaned over and kissed him, full on the lips.

"Ugh! Gross!" I yelled. "PDA alert!"

They broke apart, and I looked up to see Jake laughing like hell while my parents had corny smiles on their faces.

Why me?

**Finally the boys were hungry-**

"Of course," Aunt Rose said, rolling her eyes but I saw the smile on her face and I knew she was joking.

**-and I got up stiffly to follow them back. I tried to keep up better this time through the woods, so naturally I fell a few times. **

"Naturally," everyone repeated, smiling. Mom rolled her eyes.

**I got some shallow scrapes on my palms, and the knees of my jeans were stained green, but it could have been worse.**

**When we got back to First Beach, the group we'd left behind had multiplied. As we got closer we could see the shining, straight black hair and copper skin of the newcomers, teenagers from the reservation come to socialize.**

I sat forward, somehow knowing that this was where Jake would come in.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mother and Jake exchange anxious looks, and it just confirmed my suspicion that there was something my family was hiding from me.

I knew there was something. Every time I asked about their history, my family would instantly clam up and look at each other warily, especially Dad, Mom and Jake.

**The food was already being passed around, and the boys hurried to claim a share while Eric introduced us as we each entered the driftwood circle. Angela and I were the last to arrive, and, as Eric said our names, I noticed a younger boy sitting on the stones near the fire glance up at me in interest.**

A grimace crossed Jake's face. I frowned.

**I sat down next to Angela, and Mike brought us sandwiches and an array of sodas to choose from, while a boy who looked to be the oldest of the visitors rattled off the names of the seven others with him. All I caught was that one of the girls was also named Jessica, and the boy who noticed me was named Jacob.**

Mom smiled and looked over at Jake, who was smiling back at her.

I fixated my gaze on Aunt Alice, who was reading.

**It was relaxing to sit with Angela; she was a restful kind of person to be around — she didn't feel the need to fill every silence with chatter. She left me free to think undisturbed while we ate. And I was thinking about how disjointedly time seemed to flow in Forks, passing in a blur at times, with single images standing out more clearly than others. And then, at other times, every second was significant, etched in my mind. I knew exactly what caused the difference, and it disturbed me. During lunch the clouds started to advance, slinking across the blue sky, darting in front of the sun momentarily, casting long shadows across the beach, and blackening the waves. As they finished eating, people started to drift away in twos and threes.**

**Some walked down to the edge of the waves, trying to skip rocks across the choppy surface. Others were gathering a second expedition to the tide pools. Mike — with Jessica shadowing him — headed up to the one shop in the village. Some of the local kids went with them; others went along on the hike. By the time they all had scattered, I was sitting alone on my driftwood log, with Lauren and Tyler occupying themselves by the CD player someone had thought to bring, and three teenagers from the reservation perched around the circle, including the boy named Jacob and the oldest boy who had acted as spokesperson.**

**A few minutes after Angela left with the hikers, Jacob sauntered over to take her place by my side. **

I looked over at Jake, who tried to smile back at me reassuringly. He was a terrible actor.

**He looked fourteen, maybe fifteen, and had long, glossy black hair-**

"Oh so Edward is clearly the favoured one," Jake complained. "You're making me sound like a girl, Bella!"

"I was _trying _to compliment you, Jacob!"

I didn't secretly say that I thought the same, and imagined running my hands through it while Jake gazed at me lovingly.

Hold on, where did that thought come from?

**-pulled back with a rubber band at the nape of his neck. His skin was beautiful, silky and russet-coloured-**

"Okay, keep going. I'm really flattered Bella," Jake said sarcastically.

Mom rolled her eyes at him. "Well excuse me, these were my freaking thoughts, okay? I told you it would be horrible before we even started reading. YOU didn't pay attention to my warning."

Jake huffed.

**-his eyes were dark, set deep above the high planes of his cheekbones. He still had just a hint of childish roundness left around his chin.**

"I'm not a freaking child!"

"I said I'm sorry!"

**Altogether, a very pretty face. **

"So _now _Miss-I'm-So-Good-At-English has no other words to describe me?"

Mom scowled at him.

**However, my positive opinion of his looks was damaged by the first words out of his mouth.**

Jake's eyes widened.

**"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?"**

"Hey, I just met you! I didn't know you preferred Bella, that wasn't a fair judgement!"

"Sorry!"

**It was like the first day of school all over again.**

**"Bella," I sighed.**

**"I'm Jacob Black." He held his hand out in a friendly gesture. "You bought my dad's truck."**

**"Oh," I said, relieved, shaking his hand. "You're Billy's son. I probably should remember you."**

**"No, I'm the youngest of the family — you would remember my older sisters."**

"Rachel and Rebecca," I remembered. I had met Rachel before, but I had never met Rebecca, who was in Hawaii.

**"Rachel and Rebecca," I suddenly recalled. Charlie and Billy had thrown us together a lot during my visits, to keep us busy while they fished. We were all too shy to make much progress as friends. Of course, I'd kicked up enough tantrums to end the fishing trips by the time I was eleven.**

**"Are they here?" I examined the girls at the ocean's edge, wondering if I would recognize them now.**

**"No." Jacob shook his head. "Rachel got a scholarship to Washington State, and Rebecca married a Samoan surfer — she lives in Hawaii now."**

**"Married. Wow." I was stunned. The twins were only a little over a year older than I was.**

"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black," Jake snickered.

**"So how do you like the truck?" he asked.**

**"I love it. It runs great."**

Dad groaned. "It's all your fault for her refusing to part with that truck, Jacob."

Jake shot him an apologetic smile.

**"Yeah, but it's really slow," he laughed. "I was so relieved when Charlie bought it. My dad wouldn't let me work on building another car when we had a perfectly good vehicle right there."**

"Perfectly good vehicle, my foot."

**"It's not that slow," I objected.**

**"Have you tried to go over sixty?"**

**"No," I admitted.**

"Don't," I said. Something told me that truck wouldn't handle it.

**"Good. Don't." **

Jake smiled at me, and I tried to control my heartbeat. He reached an arm out to me, and I willingly curled up beside him, resting my head on his shoulder.

I had done this plenty of times, but lately it felt…different.

**He grinned. I couldn't help grinning back. "It does great in a collision," I offered in my truck's defence.**

**"I don't think a tank could take out that old monster," he agreed with another laugh.**

**"So you build cars?" I asked, impressed.**

**"When I have free time, and parts. You wouldn't happen to know where I could get my hands on a master cylinder for a 1986 Volkswagen Rabbit?" he added jokingly. He had a pleasant, husky voice.**

"Now _that's _a compliment, Bella."

**"Sorry," I laughed, "I haven't seen any lately, but I'll keep my eyes open for you." As if I knew what that was. He was very easy to talk with.**

My mom and Jake smiled at each other.

**He flashed a brilliant smile, looking at me appreciatively in a way I was learning to recognize. **

"What does that mean?" I blurted out stupidly.

Everyone went silent. Mom shrugged. "I have no idea, my mind worked on a different frequency back then."

Aunt Alice quickly started reading. I got the feeling my family was trying to distract me.

**I wasn't the only one who noticed.**

**"You know Bella, Jacob?" Lauren asked — in what I imagined was an insolent tone — from across the fire.**

**"We've sort of known each other since I was born," he laughed, smiling at me again.**

**"How nice." She didn't sound like she thought it was nice at all, and her pale, fishy eyes narrowed.**

**"Bella," she called again, watching my face carefully, "I was just saying to Tyler that it was too bad none of the Cullens could come out today. Didn't anyone think to invite them?" Her expression of concern was unconvincing.**

**"You mean Dr. Carlisle Cullen's family?" the tall, older boy asked before I could respond, much to Lauren's irritation. He was really closer to a man than a boy, and his voice was very deep.**

**"Yes, do you know them?" she asked condescendingly, turning halfway toward him.**

**"The Cullens don't come here," he said in a tone that closed the subject, ignoring her question.**

My dad winced slightly.

**Tyler, trying to win back her attention, asked Lauren's opinion on a CD he held. She was distracted.**

**I stared at the deep-voiced boy, taken aback, but he was looking away toward the dark forest behind us. He'd said that the Cullens didn't come here, but his tone had implied something more — that they weren't allowed; they were prohibited. **

"You really miss nothing, do you?"

**His manner left a strange impression on me, and I tried to ignore it without success.**

**Jacob interrupted my meditation. "So is Forks driving you insane yet?"**

**"Oh, I'd say that's an understatement." I grimaced. He grinned understandingly.**

**I was still turning over the brief comment on the Cullens, and I had a sudden inspiration. It was a stupid plan, but I didn't have any better ideas. I hoped that Jacob was as yet inexperienced around girls-**

"Excuse me, Bella?"

"Okay, I was stupid, naïve and an idiot. Happy now?"

"No. You owe me for this. I know what you're going to do."

**-so that he wouldn't see through my sure-to-be-pitiful attempts at flirting.**

I tried to get my thoughts together. My mom-flirting?

And did Jacob have a crush on _my mother_?

No. It couldn't be. My mom was just trying to get information from him.

"I hate you, Isabella," Jake huffed, glaring at my mom who looked at him pleadingly.

**"Do you want to walk down the beach with me?" I asked, trying to imitate that way Edward had of looking up from underneath his eyelashes.**

I tried not to puke. The idea of my mom flirting with anyone was plain disgusting.

**It couldn't have nearly the same effect, I was sure, but Jacob jumped up willingly enough.**

"Aww…just like a loyal adorable little dog," Aunt Rose said in a mock-baby voice.

Jake glared at her.

**As we walked north across the multihued stones toward the driftwood seawall, the clouds finally closed ranks across the sky, causing the sea to darken and the temperature to drop. I shoved my hands deep into the pockets of my jacket. "So you're, what, sixteen?" I asked, trying not to look like an idiot as I fluttered my eyelids the way I'd seen girls do on TV.**

Dad snickered.

Mom punched him in the arm.

**"I just turned fifteen," he confessed, flattered.**

"I was not flattered!"

"Actually-"

"Do NOT finish that sentence."

**"Really?" My face was full of false surprise. "I would have thought you were older."**

Mom. Flirting. I couldn't wrap my head around it.

**"I'm tall for my age," he explained.**

**"Do you come up to Forks much?" I asked archly, as if I was hoping for a yes. I sounded idiotic to myself. I was afraid he would turn on me with disgust and accuse me of my fraud, but he still seemed flattered.**

Jake got up. "Okay-that-that's as much as I can handle. I'm out."

He walked out of the room with us laughing behind him.

**"Not too much," he admitted with a frown. "But when I get my car finished I can go up as much as I want— after I get my license," he amended.**

**"Who was that other boy Lauren was talking to? He seemed a little old to be hanging out with us." I purposefully lumped myself in with the youngsters, trying to make it clear that I preferred Jacob.**

This. Was. Getting. Really. Gross.

Mom looked like she would rather be in Volterra than here.

I was trying to focus on anything possible not to hurl.

**"That's Sam — he's nineteen," he informed me.**

**"What was that he was saying about the doctor's family?" I asked innocently.**

**"The Cullens? Oh, they're not supposed to come onto the reservation." He looked away, out toward James Island, as he confirmed what I'd thought I'd heard in Sam's voice.**

**"Why not?"**

**He glanced back at me, biting his lip. "Oops. I'm not supposed to say anything about that."**

"Yeah, you weren't!" Dad yelled to Jacob. "YOU BROKE THE TREATY!"

"Shut up, Cullen!"

Dad smirked.

**"Oh, I won't tell anyone, I'm just curious." I tried to make my smile alluring, wondering if I was laying it on too thick.**

"Definitely," I said.

If she could have blushed, my mother definitely would have.

**He smiled back, though, looking allured. **

"I DID NOT LOOK ALLURED!" Jake yelled.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but you were!" my Mom yelled.

"I am going to kill you, Bella!"

**Then he lifted one eyebrow and his voice was even huskier than before.**

**"Do you like scary stories?" he asked ominously.**

**"I love them," I enthused, making an effort to smoulder at him.**

"You learned from the best," Dad smiled smugly.

Everyone groaned.

**Jacob strolled to a nearby driftwood tree that had its roots sticking out like the attenuated legs of a huge, pale spider. He perched lightly on one of the twisted roots while I sat beneath him on the body of the tree. He stared down at the rocks, a smile hovering around the edges of his broad lips. I could see he was going to try to make this good. I focused on keeping the vital interest I felt out of my eyes.**

**"Do you know any of our old stories, about where we came from — the Quileutes, I mean?" he began.**

**"Not really," I admitted.**

**"Well, there are lots of legends, some of them claiming to date back to the Flood— supposedly, the ancient Quileutes tied their canoes to the tops of the tallest trees on the mountain to survive like Noah and the ark." He smiled, to show me how little stock he put in the histories. "Another legend claims that we descended from wolves — and that the wolves are our brothers still. It's against tribal law to kill them.**

**"Then there are the stories about the cold ones." His voice dropped a little lower. "The cold ones?" I asked, not faking my intrigue now.**

**"Yes. There are stories of the cold ones as old as the wolf legends, and some much more recent. According to legend, my own great-grandfather knew some of them. He was the one who made the treaty that kept them off our land." He rolled his eyes.**

**"Your great-grandfather?" **

"Ephraim Black."

**-I encouraged.**

**"He was a tribal elder, like my father. You see, the cold ones are the natural enemies of the wolf—well, not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call them werewolves."**

"Shape-shifters, actually."

"I think they're cooler than actual wolves," I commented without thinking.

I heard Jake snicker from the next room.

**"Werewolves have enemies?"**

**"Only one."**

**I stared at him earnestly, hoping to disguise my impatience as admiration.**

Mom groaned. "I am never going to live this down."

"Think about my situation!" Jake yelled as my family laughed.

**"So you see," Jacob continued, "the cold ones are traditionally our enemies. But this pack that came to our territory during my great-grandfather's time was different. They didn't hunt the way others of their kind did — they weren't supposed to be dangerous to the tribe. So my great-grandfather made a truce with them. If they would promise to stay off our lands, we wouldn't expose them to the pale-faces." He winked at me.**

**"If they weren't dangerous, then why… ?" I tried to understand, struggling not to let him see how seriously I was considering his ghost story.**

**"There's always a risk for humans to be around the cold ones, even if they're civilized like this clan was. You never know when they might get too hungry to resist."**

All the members of my family except Mom looked down, ashamed. I knew that they had all slipped up at least once and they still felt guilty about it.

"Sorry," Jake said, walking back in. He had evidently decided the worst was over.

**He deliberately worked a thick edge of menace into his tone.**

**"What do you mean, 'civilized'?"**

**"They claimed that they didn't hunt humans. They supposedly were somehow able to prey on animals instead."**

**I tried to keep my voice casual. "So how does it fit in with the Cullens? Are they like the cold ones your great-grandfather met?"**

"We're the same ones," Nanna Esme said, smiling slightly.

**"No." He paused dramatically. "They are the same ones."**

**He must have thought the expression on my face was fear inspired by his story. He smiled, pleased, and continued.**

**"There are more of them now, a new female and a new male-**

I smiled at Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper.

**-but the rest are the same. In my great-grandfather's time they already knew of the leader, Carlisle. He'd been here and gone before your people had even arrived." He was fighting a smile. **

**"And what are they?" I finally asked. "What are the cold ones?"**

"Vampires," Mom and Jake said together, making their voices dark and menacing.

They both laughed.

**He smiled darkly.**

**"Blood drinkers," he replied in a chilling voice. "Your people call them vampires."**

**I stared out at the rough surf after he answered, not sure what my face was exposing. "You have goose bumps," he laughed delightedly.**

**"You're a good storyteller," I complimented him-**

"That you are," I smiled, hugging him. Jake had told me plenty of stories of the Quileute legends.

**-still staring into the waves.**

**"Pretty crazy stuff, though, isn't it? No wonder my dad doesn't want us to talk about it to anyone."**

**I couldn't control my expression enough to look at him yet. "Don't worry, I won't give you away."**

**"I guess I just violated the treaty," he laughed.**

Everyone mock-glared at Jacob who apologized.

**"I'll take it to the grave," I-**

"Wrong choice of words, Bella," Aunt Alice said, shaking her head.

**-promised, and then I shivered.**

**"Seriously, though, don't say anything to Charlie. He was pretty mad at my dad when he heard that some of us weren't going to the hospital since Dr. Cullen started working there."**

Jake looked at Grandpa apologetically. "Sorry about that, Carlisle."

"No, it's fine Jacob. You don't have to apologize."

**"I won't, of course not."**

**"So do you think we're a bunch of superstitious natives or what?" he asked in a playful tone, but with a hint of worry. I still hadn't looked away from the ocean.**

**I turned and smiled at him as normally as I could.**

**"No. I think you're very good at telling scary stories, though. I still have goose bumps, see?" I held up my arm.**

**"Cool." He smiled.**

**And then the sound of the beach rocks clattering against each other warned us that someone was approaching. Our heads snapped up at the same time to see Mike and Jessica about fifty yards away, walking toward us.**

**"There you are, Bella," Mike called in relief, waving his arm over his head.**

**"Is that your boyfriend?" **

"I'm kind of hurt that you ever thought I would date an idiot like that, Jake."

"Yeah…it's just that he seemed so possessive."

Dad was pinching the bridge of his nose-an action that I, unfortunately, recognised.

**Jacob asked, alerted by the jealous edge in Mike's voice.**

"You blew him right out of the water," I heard Mom whisper. Dad smiled.

Jake and I rolled our eyes.

**I was surprised it was so obvious.**

**"No, definitely not," I whispered. I was tremendously grateful to Jacob, and eager to make him as happy as possible.**

"You make it sound like I'm a dog, Bella," Jake complained.

"Well, technically…"

"Shut up, Rosalie."

Aunt Rosalie smirked.

**I winked at him, carefully turning away from Mike to do so. He smiled, elated by my inept flirting.**

Jake clenched his teeth. "I. Was. Not. Bloody. Elated."

Mom smiled at him, making puppy-dog eyes."

**"So when I get my license…" he began.**

**"You should come see me in Forks. We could hang out sometime." I felt guilty as I said this, knowing that I'd used him. **

"Yeah. You so owe me big time."

**But I really did like Jacob. He was someone I could easily be friends with.**

Jake's frown disappeared. He reached over and high-fived Mom.

**Mike had reached us now, with Jessica still a few paces back. I could see his eyes appraising Jacob-**

"Who does he think he is, evaluating your friends for you?" Dad growled.

Mom face-palmed.

**-and looking satisfied at his obvious youth.**

**"Where have you been?" he asked, though the answer was right in front of him.**

Dad snickered. "What does he know?"

**"Jacob was just telling me some local stories," I volunteered. "It was really interesting."**

**I smiled at Jacob warmly, and he grinned back.**

"I wasn't faking that, I swear."

**"Well," Mike paused, carefully reassessing the situation as he watched our camaraderie. "We're packing up — it looks like it's going to rain soon. "We all looked up at the glowering sky. It certainly did look like rain.**

**"Okay." I jumped up. "I'm coming."**

**"It was nice to see you again," Jacob said, and I could tell he was taunting Mike just a bit.**

Jake grinned. "Guilty as charged."

**"It really was. Next time Charlie comes down to see Billy, I'll come, too," I promised.**

**His grin stretched across his face. "That would be cool."**

Mom and Jake smiled at one another.

**"And thanks," I added earnestly.**

**I pulled up my hood as we tramped across the rocks toward the parking lot. A few drops were beginning to fall, making black spots on the stones where they landed. When we got to the Suburban the others were already loading everything back in. I crawled into the backseat by Angela and Tyler, announcing that I'd already had my turn in the shotgun position. Angela just stared out the window at the escalating storm, and Lauren twisted around in the middle seat to occupy Tyler's attention, so I could simply lay my head back on the seat and close my eyes and try very hard not to think.**

"That's the end of the chapter," Aunt Alice said, looking up at us.

"So now Bella's figured out what we are..." Uncle Emmett mused thoughtfully. "Next chapter should be interesting."

"Nope, I need to take Bella shopping now," Aunt Alice smiled wickedly. "Having lost her bet, she owes me."

Mom groaned. "Want to come too, Nessie?" Aunt Alice asked as an afterthought, smiling at me. She was beyond elated that I had inherited her love of fashion, unlike Mom.

"Sure!" I said eagerly.

"So we'll read the next chapter when we come back?" I asked, and everyone nodded. "What's the name of the next chapter?" Jake asked curiously.

Aunt Alice turned to the next page.

"**Nightmares." **

_And….I finished it! YAY! _

_Hope you guys enjoyed it, please leave a review and tell me what you thought! _

_Till next time! _


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